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Polly’s birthday, thoughts on celebrating with Down syndrome Her first birthday and my struggle with Down syndrome My daughter Polly’s first birthday was a great celebration. We had cake, and family, and friends, and ice cream, and pizza, and happiness. Lots of happiness. But we also had uncertainty, a bit of sadness, insecurity, uneasiness. Polly was born with Down syndrome, and on her first birthday, I still battled fear every day. What would life be
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On motherhood and depression I have a nasty habit of tying my blog posts up with little white bows at the end. For some reason, I always feel like I need to show the struggle and the triumph in my writing, but really, who am I kidding? Most of the things we struggle with aren’t fully rendered by one touching anecdote or a favorite Bible verse. No, our struggles continue. We learn. We struggle. We
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Tomorrow’s a ‘no’ day, a needed reminder in parenting kids with special needs “Have a great day, Polly! And remember, make it a ‘YES’ day!” She stopped in her tracks and pivoted to face me. “Ok, Mom, but tomorrow is going to be a ‘no’ day.” My husband and I tried to hold it together, as we do daily with the one liners easily crafted by our funny little girl. Once I shut the door behind
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She grows, As Polly turns seven years old, her growth, and mine, astound me It’s a sunny Sunday afternoon. Evangeline swings in the adaptive swing while her Papa dutifully pushes her back and forth. Elaina and Zoya, with adult-like bodies but childlike hearts, swoop and slide on the monkey bars. I shadow Polly to make sure she doesn’t get hurt, to help her if she asks. An elevated Chicago train rumbles above us along the
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7 Responses
I feel like you’re always writing what’s in my head. 🙂 love your blog
Beautiful, Gillian! Rejoicing and celebrating with you!!!
Thank you for this post! It meant a lot to me!
what a wonderful wonderful posting! 🙂 happy.
[…] today … for the rest of the summer (okay, not the whole summer. My two girls with Down syndrome will go to summer school for four weeks, and still, even with that, I’m freaking out just a […]
[…] I am reminded of a lesson God taught me through a friend who was willing to step into the arena of confusion, grief, and fear I found myself thrown into seven years ago after the birth of my daughter with Down syndrome. […]
[…] I am reminded of a lesson God taught me through a friend who was willing to step into the arena of confusion, grief, and fear I found myself thrown into seven years ago after the birth of my daughter with Down syndrome. […]