Who I Am

 

My daughter has Down syndrome.  Who she is can be only partially summed-up by adjectives -

smart...

 funny...

beautiful...

compassionate...

stubborn...

determined...

energetic...

enthusiastic...

kind...

polite...

But that's not all of who she is. 

She is my daughter.  She is the light of the lives of her father, her grandparents, and me, myself.  She is a student.  She is nearly 7 years old.  She likes playing doctor, reading books, eating spaghetti, posing for pictures, playing computer games, crawling into our bed at 5:30am and going back to sleep for a bit longer, watching Arthur or Curious George, going to school, traveling...and the list goes on and on and on...

She is close to being able to dictate this post herself, to tell you, from her own lips, who she is.  But until that time, I don't feel that my telling you who she is is entirely fair. 

But I can speak for myself.  Who I am, as a result of who she is.  The resulting woman she has created by coming into my life, extra chromosome and all.

Who I am.

That's what I can tell you.

I am a mother, first and foremost.  I am a mother who has learned more than I ever thought possible about a world stretching out well-beyond the one that accompanies the typical experiences of motherhood. 

Down syndrome, the presence of the extra 21st chromosome being shared within each and every cell in my daughter's body, has made me different.  I don't mean to say that it's just Down syndrome that has made me who I am, but it's Down syndrome *within* the person my daughter is that has helped to shape me. 

If that makes sense.

I am my daughter's mother.

I am ready to meet new challenges head-on, to take on the world if it means providing the best opportunities for my daughter.

I am passionate about a cause.

I am educated in much of the minutiae of childhood development that most parents take for granted. 

I am strong.

I am a person with so much more patience and understanding than I ever though I was capable of.

I am part of a community that has embraced and welcomed us with open arms, a warm and loving club full of people sharing like-interests and experiences.

I am a teacher.

I am an advocate.

I am so, so lucky to be her mother.