The River Series 2/11: Bridget/Mom

The moment we received River’s prenatal diagnosis, I felt shocked and afraid. The unknown scares us. There was definitely a meltdown moment. But soon after, as I prayed and handed it over to God, peace began to replace fear. Actually more than just peace. I felt certain there was a great plan for his life. But even then, I had no idea just how awesome he was going to be.

River has brought joy, laughter and love into our lives and so many other people’s lives in a million big and small ways. When we go to a restaurant, he greets strangers at other tables and introduces them to his family asking, “have you met my mom?” At the store, he jumps up and down and cheers over something as simple as buying ketchup saying with a fist pump, “YES! I LOVE KETCHUP!” When at church, he throws his hands up and worships with all his heart. One Sunday he left his seat to go sit by a homeless man he’d never met. At home, if his sister gets a time out, he sometimes sits next to her and puts his arm around her. At night when I put him to bed, he will hold my face with both hands, look right into my eyes, stroke my cheek and say, ”Mommy, I love you so much.” And I know he means it with every ounce of him. He lives in the moment. He loves unconditionally. He sees and assumes the best in people.

If you told me that tomorrow you could make the Down Syndrome go away, I would say no. I adore River just as he is. Down Syndrome is part of who he is, and I wouldn’t dare change him. Does life with Down Syndrome create unique worries and challenges? Yes. But I have worries and challenges for my typical kids too. In fact, many of the things I worry about for my typical kids I will never have to worry about for River. So we accept him. And love him. Just as he is. And that’s exactly what he does in return.

#TheLuckyFew #TheLuckyFewFoundation #DownSyndrome #ThisisDownSyndrome