Sixteen years ago I held a newborn in my arms. She looked so tiny all wrapped in a pink towel. Now 16 years later she tells me how she is growing. She stands next to me and with her hand going up on an angle tries to convince me that she is taller than I am. Sixteen years ago we faced medical uncertainties, surgeries, and the fear that she would not live. It was after complication after a heart catheterization…
March 21 – The day that we Celebrate Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome also known as Trisomy 21. This is my somewhat annual reflection and thoughts regarding Down Syndrome. As I think about what to write this year, one topic that has come up recently here in the media is abortion and Down Syndrome. Heidi Crowter has been speaking out against the fact that the law allows abortion after 24 weeks for severe fetal abnormality. While this is an old article…
“May I hold her.” Steph had finished eating and pushed back her chair. Steph was visiting Taiwan to speak at one of the seminaries. Her arms opened to hold Miss K who was just four months old. As Steph held her, she commented on the memories of when Timmy was a baby. There at the lower level of the Royal Thai restaurant, I met Stephanie for the first time. Since that meeting, we have met at various times. The other year…
What do you know about Down Syndrome? Do you know someone with Down Syndrome? Sixteen years ago I didn’t know much about Down Syndrome. I had numerous thoughts of what it might be. Over the years I had met a few people with Down Syndrome but that was about all. I have learned so much and I think the world is more aware now that it has been previously but there is still so much to know. Loving and living…
Fifteen years ago I stood in the NICU watching the nurses prepare my newborn for heart surgery. She was just two weeks old and so tiny. Heart surgery was necessary. The heart catheterization just four days earlier had shown the constriction of the aorta. That impacted her blood pressure and the only way to correct the problem was open-heart surgery. Heart surgery was needed. Now 15 years later I sit listening to that same girl dancing around in her room,…