And He Said, "Babies With Down Syndrome Look Weird."

We took the ferry over to Kingston the other day, walked along the beach, had some ice cream, it was a great day! As we bought our tickets, I asked the cashier if Beth qualified for the 'disabled discount' (that's the way it was written on the paper) and she said yes. I told Beth that her ticket cost less because she had Down Syndrome and then the cashier told her, "You'll have money left over to buy something else you want because you're special." Beth smiled and said, "Yep!"

I know the cashiers comment would have angered some people but I know she wasn't trying to hurt Beth. She was trying to be nice, nothing more. Maybe she hadn't had many encounters with people with Down Syndrome. Maybe she kicked herself after we left, 'Why did I say that?!' (I think we've all been there.) The way we reacted to it set the scene for the rest of the afternoon. We said thank you and went on with our day.

But her comment reminded me of a situation that happened when Beth was born.

We found out that Beth had Down Syndrome after she was born and I had had a full day of doctors and specialists. The next morning I woke up to my roommate talking back and forth with her doctor. There was a curtain pulled between our beds, but I could hear her whisper, "Does my baby have Down Syndrome?" Her doctor laughed, "Does your baby look weird? Downs babies look weird, you'd know it if you had one."

I froze. I literally held by breath for a few seconds. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard! But then I somehow knew that this was just the first in a long line of comments we'd hear over the years. It was like, okay, here we go, and I knew how I responded to this would set the presedence for the rest of our lives.

I didn't move. I wanted my roommate to think I was still asleep and that I hadn't heard what her doctor said. She went home a couple days later but I never said anything about it. As far as I know - wherever she is all these years later - she believes I never heard that conversation. I do remember one of the days I was holding Beth she told me Beth was beautiful. I hope that seeing me and my family love on Beth showed her that children with Down Syndrome weren't weird and were worthy of love.

And I believe Beth's smile and interaction with the cashier at the ferry terminal showed her that Beth - like everyone else on the planet - is special and worthy of love and kindness.

(Beth is in the long black dress with white jacket tied around her waist.)

Tolt

Chuck, Kathy and I drove out to the Tolt River today. Oh my gosh it was so gorgeous out! Big, puffy clouds, warm sunshine, such a gorgeous day!

We walked over this suspension bridge. It only moved a little... until you got to the middle, then it began to sway a lot! We stopped and held on for a minute, then walked a little faster the rest of the way. :)

I love the great outdoors! How about you? Where's your favorite place?

Girls

Diana flew back home on Sunday. We all got up early to be able to say goodbye to her, then Sharaya and Allie drove her to the airport. It was hard to say goodbye but I did get one more picture of my girls! 

Do You Like Purple?

Diana has been going non-stop since she arrived on Tuesday. We all went out to eat her first night here. She has spent time with the bride-to-be, shopped for gifts, hung out with Sharaya and got to see a few former co-workers. Her dress needed to be hemmed so this morning we drove out to Valerie's to drop it off, then we drove back out a few hours later to pick it up. It looks gorgeous on her!

 

Kathy, Beth and I wandered around Hobby Lobby. 

I love that store!

 

 Kathy and I sat down by the water and watched a beautiful sunset.

And we visited The Purple Store!

There were purple bathrobes, bread makers and dog collars!

Then we realized the two of them were both wearing purple!

You can shop there too at thepurplestore.com!

 We hope you have a fun, purple weekend!

New York State of Mind

Sharaya decided to take her first solo trip ever! And it was a big one! She hopped on a plane and spent a full week in New York City. Her main reason for going was one of her favorite bands, Mumford and Sons was playing in Queens so she decided to make a full week of out it! We visited there was she was around 17 so she was excited to see how things had changed, as well as see a few things we didn't get to see in 2004.

She stayed with Diana, then would get up early in the morning and take a bus into NY. On Friday night, they got to stay at a friends house who had a place right in New York City. What a view!!

On the roof of their building.

 

Empire State Building

 

She went to The Top of the Rock

Freedom Tower

 

The Guggenheim

At the Mumford & Sons concert at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens

 She had such a great time and now Chuck and I want to go back again!

The Sweet Wall

My sister had an uneventful flight and arrived here Tuesday morning. It's been so good to see her again! I've had the last two days off so we've talked a lot and laughed a lot. Sharaya and Allie came over tonight and we had dinner and played Yahtzee. 

Today we wandered around Seattle and I took her to the Fremont Troll. She was shocked! It's a pretty amazing... creature. He was built in 1989 out of rebar, wire and 2 tons of concrete and yes, he's grabbing a real VW bug.

 

From there we went to Pikes Market and got to see the Gum Wall! All the times Chuck and I have been there, we've never seen the Wall! People from all over the world have put their gum on that wall, I saw little cards from Japan and Russia... as soon as you stepped into the alley you could smell the sweetness of all that gum! Actually, it was kind of gross. It sure was colorful though!

 

We love everything about Pikes Market. The food and the vendors and so many things to buy, t shirts, flowers, jewelry, coffee mugs, belt buckles and there's just an electricity in the air. We ate lunch overlooking Puget Sound, some apple cinnamon danish things. They were SO good!

  I hope you all have some fun adventures this week!