In honor of Down syndrome awareness month I am going to post another person's blog post. Gabe and I were both deeply touched by this post. You can find Dave's post by clicking
here. He has many other great posts.
The post goes as follows:
Down Syndrome, Off The Clock
They make, if not the best, a very serviceable eggplant parmigiana. We
don't go there often, but when we do, we each always get lunch from the
same vendors. As they are at the start of the food court, we grab a
table right at the entrance. It's perfect for people watching,
eavesdropping and is almost always the source for amusement. The
parmigiana comes from the vendor right at the start of the court, Joe
gets soup from the vendor next door but one. I grabbed a table just two
in, with a chair removed, there is enough room for me to pull in and be
out of the way.
We'd just sat down for lunch when we both heard
that pronunciation of the word, 'Mother' that communicates so much.
'Muhhhhh-therrrrrr'. I glanced up and saw a frustrated and harried
woman, carrying packages from the Bay and her son, a young man with Down
Syndrome who was in his pre-teens.
Of course, I listened.
(Realize
that I would have listened irregardless of the boy's Down Syndrome. I
would have listened if it was a couple having a spat, if it was a
businessman mumbling to himself, if it was someone having an animated
conversation on a cell phone. That's what I do.)
So, aside, aside, I listened.
It
seems that the mother wanted to go with him to get his food and then
have him go with her to get her food, then they would eat together. Son,
thought this was silly. Why doesn't she get hers, he get his, then they
meet for lunch. She did an admirable job of keeping herself calm. I did
an admirable job of just listening, not judging. Who knew what kind of
experiences she'd had that led to this arrangement? They had been
standing arguing and just before she moved again towards the court he
said something that had a profound impact on me as a listener and she as
a mother.
'Trouble is you think I have Down Syndrome all the time and I don't,' he said with real frustration.
She stopped again, 'What?'
'I
only have Down Syndrome sometimes, when I'm learning something new or
if the words are real hard. I don't have Down Syndrome the rest of the
time when I'm doing what I know how to do.'
'And you don't have Down Syndrome now?' she asked.
'No,
I know how to get my lunch, I buy my lunch at school all the time. I
don't have someone with me all the time you know.' he was frustrated, he
didn't even realize he'd said something of real importance, to me and
to his mother.
'So,' she continued looking at him hard, 'you don't feel like you have Down Syndrome all the time.'
'No, most times I don't even think about it,' he said.
She said, her tiredness seemed to be gone, 'Go ahead, we'll find a table after we've got our food.'
They disappeared from view.
Joe and I looked at each other. I said to him, 'That kid should teach classes to parents of kids with Down Syndrome.'
On
our way home, chatting about just stuff, I realized that at that moment
I didn't feel disabled, it wasn't part of my consciousness. I knew that
everyone saw me in my wheelchair but what they saw, what they thought,
didn't impact what I felt. I'm only disabled sometimes, when things are
out of my reach, when aisles are too narrow, when a curb blocks my way.
The rest of the time I'm just - me.
Gabriel and Isabella teach us each and every day!
No matter what is thrown Gabriel's way he makes the most of the situation.
Isabella makes each situation her own.
We are so proud of our kids for being exactly who they are!
They teach everyone around them that Down syndrome is not who Gabriel is!
There are only two days left honor Down syndrome awareness month by ordering your very own Special Olympic wax warmer! Remember $8 from each
warmer goes to the Special Olympics. Ms. Amanda is donating 20% of her
profit on any orders through the webpage, to a local chapter of the
Special Olympics. Mom also has the two Buddys up for grabs (I get to draw the names), all you have to do is buy something from
THIS LINK during the month of October. Remember to like Ms. Amanda's page on Facebook by clicking
HERE! Ms. Amanda posts all kinds of good deals on her Facebook page!
