The Lucy Series 3/6: Michael/Dad)

(THE LUCY SERIES 3/6: Michael/Dad)

"After Lulu was born and about to go into her first heart surgery, Lisa and I sat worried sick in the hospital room—not just for the surgery but for the future as a whole. Would we be able to handle being parents of a child with Down Syndrome?

As we sat there quietly in our fear and dread, a girl with Down syndrome who must have been 6 or 7 walked by our door in a hospital gown. She glanced at us and then stopped.

“Hey, what’s your name?” She asked.

“Hi, I’m Michael.”

“Cool hat.” she said, and then walked away.

Lisa and I looked at each other and smiled. Maybe this was going to be ok, after all.

Of course, not everyone with Down syndrome is the same, but looking back, there was something about that little girl that foreshadowed the kind of life and presence Lucie would be in the world.

7 years later, I can’t count the amount of times I’ve seen Lucie be that same sort of direct and disarming presence that lights up the room for someone who needs it. Whether it’s stopping at every aisle in the airplane to say hello to everybody, shaking her booty to make the room laugh or running to the studio to tell me her sister is feeling sad, Lu loves this world and anyone who is lucky enough to meet her gets to have their world brightened by that love. It’s not usually a heavy or complicated sort of thing. It’s often a “Hey, what’s your name?” sort of thing. It’s a “Cool hat.” Sort of thing. And sometimes that’s all one needs to be reminded at how amazing it is to be alive."

#ThisIsDownSyndrome #TheLuckyFew #TheLuckyFewFoundation