Thursday, March 21, 2013

World Down Syndrome Day: Our Down Syndrome Story

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!  Today is a day in which we raise awareness about Trisomy 21 (otherwise known as Down syndrome).  March 21st (3/21) is the perfect day to recognize individuals with Down syndrome because Trisomy 21 means that these individuals have 3 chromosomes on the 21st pair instead of 2, like those of us without Down syndrome.  If you want to know more about it, click HERE.

But enough with the technical stuff.  Today is the day we celebrate my big sister, Leanne, whose impact on my life was so profound that she inspired the adoption of our daughter, Josie.
And we loved Josie so much that she inspired us to grow our family even more.
When Merryn was born, Josie became an awesome big sister...
...just like Leanne has become an awesome aunt.
And we're all better for impact Down syndrome has had on our lives.
Merryn could probably live without the excessively enthusiastic displays of affection...
 (She looks like she's really enjoying this moment, doesn't she?)
...but she tolerates it because she adores her big sister, just like I adore mine.
Today we celebrate individuals with Down syndrome and the incredible contributions they make to this world. 
 
 
Leanne reads, writes, has a job, volunteers, competes in Special Olympics and she enjoys an active social life.  She is smart, capable, hilarious, hard-working, and extremely kind.  She is loved by more people than we could ever count!
 
 
Like her Aunt Leanne, Josie is also full of attributes that enrich the lives of all who know her.  She is bright, loving, joyful, and eager to learn new things.  She will turn 3 next week and she has already shown a very promising capacity to learn, excel, and become independent.  She speaks, sings, dances, knows her letters and numbers, and she is becoming a better walker by the day.


If you've never been fortunate enough to know an individual with Down syndrome, here's the bottom line: People with Down syndrome face developmental delays but they can demonstrate how to handle life's challenges with a better attitude than most.  And at the end of the day, I've never met an individual with Down syndrome who was the least bit focused on his or her own shortcomings.  Individuals with Down syndrome live full, happy, enriching lives and they are a blessing to the rest of us because they have an unparallelled capacity to show us what is truly important in life.
 
 
If you need additional proof, click HERE.
Happy World Down Syndrome Day 2013!

19 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I am wiping away tears now!

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  2. Love these pics, and the shirts! Leanne is so pretty. I think you may have had a typo there. It says March 31st in parenthesis. ???

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  3. Oops, not in parenthesis. Lol Before the parenthesis. Now *I* have a typo. :)

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  4. Wow! Josie is so smart! :)

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  5. Wow! Josie is so smart! :) I enjoyed the pics of Josie and Leanne.

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  6. I can't believe how quickly Josie recognizes those words - little smartie pants!

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  7. Wonderful posts and fabulous pictures!

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  8. Wow! You rarely post pictures of yourself so I had NO idea how much you and Leanne look alike! Seriously, smack some red lipstick on her, turn you blonde and y'all are twins! So gorgeous. Thanks for sharing :)

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  9. Loved the group of pictures with you and Leanne, and your daughters. Precious photos.

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  10. I love hearing Josie's voice:)) so sweet!!

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  11. As well as extremely smart:) thanks for sharing this post:)

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  12. seriously...are you SURE she has Down syndrome ??? My "typical" three year olds could not have done this !! Not one of them !!! You need to teach a class or something !!

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  13. Truly beautiful words!!! I'm filling up! My sister is the best thing that ever happened to our family too! Everyone should know someone who has Down's syndrome they truly do bring magic into people's lives!!!

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  14. Absolutely beautiful words!!! I'm welling up here! My sister has brought such happiness to our lives and our family wouldn't be the same without her!!! Love her and love your blogs amazing!! The t shirts are cool too!!

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  15. Your 2 cuties brighten up my day! Loved the video of Jo Jo and her flash cards, so smart!

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  16. Love your bond with your sister and could your girls BE any cuter? :)

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  17. Your family is just amazing!

    Josie's such a smart little cupcake, and she & Merryn are adorable together. And of course it's wonderful that they have an awesome Aunt Leanne to look up to!

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