Being Up With Down Syndrome

Time and again I am reading or hearing conversations about how things work.  Who is good and who is bad.  Who should be included and who should be shunned.  Do you think I have EVER been part of this or have judged as such?  Of course, we all have at some point. Then it happened, my eyes were opened.  There were some people, that were by far, the most judgmental, inclusive, egotistical bunch of hypocrites ever to be encountered.  Yes, naive was I.  Blind had I been.  Delusional? Certainly.  Shocked is an understatement. What was the most shocking was the cruelty and rudeness.  The very ones pointing and accusing others of horrendous acts, were themselves the biggest culprits.  The very ones that were going to judge and disperse unkindnesses, were the ones looked up to.  Humility was a word said over and over, but with nothing whatsoever to show for it.  The amount of self absorbed, know it alls were bursting at the sea...

Lent is around the corner and for the very first time, I welcome it.  I have an Aunt, I tend to agree with, that says, "I don't pick my Lent, it picks me."  I do give up and sacrifice but I always try to take something good up too.  This past year from last Lent, has been a very difficult year internally for me, because you see, I am a sinner. From the outside looking in, I am a wife and mother.  My plate is full...some would say overflowing. I am also a partner in business.  An owner, per say of our business.  Then there is homeschooling our children.  Did I mention trying to also stay in touch with friends.  Almost impossible.  The constant guilt that follows my life can become unbearable, because you see, I am a sinner. In the whirlwind of our life, I recently realized my lack of peace.  One evening I was upset and praying for peace.  Peace in the world, peace in my community, peace in my family and mostly peace in my heart. ...

I came across an article "Congressman Gary Peter's Lawyers Up to Silence Julie Boonstra"  Here    Remember when Sarah Palin talked about Death Panels deciding who lives and who dies?  Well here we are. It is beyond what I even thought possible.  Ever watch the movie "The Ten Commandments"?  Here . History repeats itself.  How far have we come?  Still killing babies.   Infanticide? In fact, in the Netherlands it's a logical extension of that country’s euthanasia license. A bureaucratic check list has even been published, including in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, known as the Groningen Protocol, by which Dutch neonatologists determine which disabled babies qualify to be euthanized.  In America it is the same with prenatal testing encouraging a parent of a baby that may have an imperfection aborted.  Or maybe just kill the baby to end its life because of inconvenience to the mother.  If as a Country we k...

This morning I turned on GMA.  GMA standing for Good Morning America!  Really?  The news they put out is anything but good.  Today the ticker at the bottom of the screen read that milk was going up $.60.   Here .  BUT this is what was supposed to happen.   Here.   Coffee prices are going up.   Here.   The best is fuel!  Gas prices escalate.   Here. Let's talk about jobs...  Here is what the government says.   Here.   The reality is " In a phone call,  Harvard Business School  Entrepreneurship and Strategy Professor Joe Fuller called the numbers “more of the same.” While he felt the headline jobs number was “a disappointment even in the context of a decaying picture for jobs growth,” Fuller warns that”trying to read a lot into month to month data is a fools errand. There is, however, something in these numbers that’s unsettling. Even though we talk about the period from July to November being good rela...

It is my Anniversary today.  My husband BJ and I have been together 21 years.  Married for 19.  I knew him growing up in my hometown.  He was my best friend's, at the time, younger brother.  We met again in my late twenties and it was love.  The kindness in this mans heart won me over.  The laughter that we shared was huge! The great joys were having our five children.  The great sorrows were losing three children in miscarriages.  The great joy was knowing our love would last through whatever was tossed at us.  The sorrow was that there was a lot of unnessary things thrown at us.  The great joy is that we both have God at the center of our lives.  The great joy is that no matter what, we found laughter got us through. So today...we are sharing this Anniversary with the kids too.  A great dinner, a few laughs and lots of love.  Thank you God for bringing to me, the love of my life.

Yes I am going to venture into this subject.  We are a family with five children.  The youngest has Down Syndrome and with Down Syndrome, she can have a compromised immune system.  The first year of her life I breast fed and so she was quite healthy.  From age one to two, all hell broke loose.  She had a constant cold from August until April.  She would get over a cold to then get a flu, then a cold again.  A stomach flu and a cold again.  Then it happened.  Pneumonia.  She got sick at 1:00 a.m. and the next morning something wasn't right.  I called our Pediatrician who gave her a chest X-ray and yes she was put on her fourth antibiotic.  I was beaten.  I was destroyed.  Other moms of Down Syndrome said "Oh yea this is all our lives with Downs children".   What???????  Nope I was NOT going to be on this cycle.  I was getting off this ride. I discovered through the help of my cousin Brenda, essential o...

Every year at this time I get the winter blahs!  We homeschool, the weather has been cold and grey and everyone gets antsy.  I always said that if I ever can, I will take a vacation to a tropical island in February! Last evening I went to dinner with a good friend.  I look at at all my friends as blessings and they all bring something to my life in a special way.  This particular friend is a surprise.  We became friends by getting thrown into a common cause.  I was "warned" of her by quite a few people.  Every single warning was false.  This friend is kind, loving and has helped me figure out ways to handle some very difficult situations.  Last night was no different.  We are eating and catching up and I find out that she used to work with Autistic children. She is like an onion!  You peel back another layer and surprise!  My friend is an encyclopedia of information.  Our youngest daughter Kate has Down Syndrome. ...