What It Feels Like To Be Hit In The Face With A Shovel [Part 3]

This is PART 3 of my reflections about when my daughter who has Down syndrome was born.

It was my job to call our friends and family who were waiting on the baby news.  But I had to tell them she was born with this disability and I didn’t know what the future was going to be like for her or us.

Five or six people down the phone list all said the same thing.  “I’m sorry.”

Then I got to my father in law, Dan.  I gave him the news about his new granddaughter and Dan said six words to me that changed my life.  “I can’t wait to meet her.”

Boom.  Another shovel.  Sort of.  This time it was an impact, but it didn’t hurt.

This shovel knocked some sense into me.  I didn’t have a diagnosis in the other room.  I didn’t have a disability waiting for me.  I didn’t have a little bundle of fear and doubt.  I had a baby. A beautiful little girl who I loved so much I thought my heart would explode.

It’s in that moment I realized that all of the thoughts I had about Down syndrome came from doctors, the media, hell, I even went to Wikipedia an hour after she was born.  But none of those stories were my story.

It was time I took ownership of my story.

(READ PART 4 HERE)