I just very moved to read the
touching note from Nancy Iannone at DownSyndromePregnancy.org:
The essay that spoke to me when I was pregnant, and the link to
Thoughts from the Middle of the Night, itself a heartfelt thank you to the moms who inspired me.
No discussion of support for families who have a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome would be sufficient if it did not include information and links to DownSyndromePregnancy.org:
We provide a free downloadable practical guide for expectant moms, Diagnosis to Delivery: A Pregnant Mother�s Guide to Down Syndrome. We also host an interactive blog, which gives expectant parents a place to ask questions, voice concerns, and receive feedback.
DownSyndromePregnancy.org is a non-profit organization that offers support to expectant parents who have received a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis and are moving forward with their pregnancy. The material is not appropriate for women who are still weighing options about their pregnancy because it infers that a woman will be continuing a pregnancy to delivery and beyond. More appropriate resources for women weighing options are their medical providers and Understanding a Down Syndrome Diagnosis distributed by Lettercase.org.
Her message also reminded me of a woman my son introduced me to when he was playing host at a school district event for families of young children with IEPs or 504 plans. When a family arrived and no one walked over to greet them, he would introduce himself and then bring them over to me.
That night was memorable for two reasons. First, I had helped plan the event and had inexplicably neglected to find volunteers to welcome participants. I had always felt this was important because the first time I brought my infant son and his toddler sister to a Father's Program event in Seattle, there was no one there I knew, and for a few minutes I felt that I should not have been there. A young man with Down syndrome noticed me standing with my children away from everyone else, zeroed in on us from across the room, and made a beeline to get there. He introduced himself and made small talk for a while, before introducing me to another group at the event. I have never forgotten his kindness.
Secondly, when my son introduced me to one of the women at the school district event I helped plan, I did not recognize her name or face at all from a previous and significant meeting. She was my Parent to Parent visitor from King County ARC when we first arrived back in the Seattle area when my son was just a few months old.
She let me talk for a moment as if we had never met and then said, "Pam, I bought you
pie." Before she could remind me further, that whole memory came back intact, with a sense memory of a beautiful slice of pie and the gratefulness I had felt through many years since.
She laughed when I said, "It's
you! Thank you so much!" And she knew just what I meant, because someone had meant that much to her when her sweet baby with Down syndrome was new. I'm sure others listening thought that I really must love pie. Also true.
To discover that I had a small influence inspiring the amazing Nancy Iannone brings those experiences full circle and I hope that, like a stone dropped into still water, thankfulness and inspiration continue to ripple outward to other families.
Pam W
SE of Seattle
