“Mom, sometimes, when I look at Nichole she is so cute that I feel like crying because my heart is so full of love.” There are times I look at my children and I feel like crying because of the intense love I feel for them. It is a love so hard to contain that it spills out in tears. I get this feeling, I am a mom. However, coming out of the mouth of Ellie, my 6-year-old daughter, it surprised … [Read more...]
When the Disability’s Not So “Bad”
I feel guilty about a very strange thing. Not about something I’ve done, but about something I was given. Today, I want to hold my hand up and shield people from paying attention to this part of my life; here, in this particular community of parents who struggle daily with special needs, and never-ending vigilance. A few codes in our neurologist’s office indicate I’ve every right to be among you … [Read more...]
Body and Soul, She Is Marvelously Made
When my daughter was born with Down syndrome, our friends came to visit us at the hospital. Our oldest daughter was staying with them and they had brought Ellie to meet her baby sister. Our friends brought their daughter along too, she was the same age as our oldest, and like our youngest, she has Down syndrome. While we visited in the hospital room, we talked about how God had orchestrated … [Read more...]
What Is This Thing Called Prayer?
Last night my dear friend Alysia called to talk. As a youth group leader I mentored Alysia throughout her middle and high school years. In college, she joined our leadership team. During those years I was raising three sons. Joel, our youngest, was diagnosed with autism on that journey. After graduating with a nursing degree Alysia married and had seven children. She and her husband are … [Read more...]
For parents who aren’t ready to celebrate Down syndrome during Down syndrome Awareness Month
For parents who aren't ready to celebrate Down syndrome (This is a post author Gillian Marchenko (Sun Shine Down) shares every year in October for Down syndrome Awareness Month. If you are a new parent or a seasoned parent to a child with Down syndrome, wherever you are in the journey today, Gillian is here to tell you it is okay.) I read a blog yesterday from a mother of a child … [Read more...]
Love pushes us to the front of the crowd, reflecting on a dual diagnosis
Love pushes us to the front of the crowd, reflecting on a dual diagnosis I belong to a private Facebook group for parents who have kids with a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism. I think of myself new to the autism world but in actuality, my fourth daughter Evangeline has held the diagnosis for, oh my goodness what has it been? Two years? Although I mostly lurk, the dual diagnosis … [Read more...]