A Whole New World

Our family entered a whole new world on February 5, 2005. It was a world mixed with tears and challenges, a world of new things to learn, a world of new laughs and adventures, a world that none of us would ever change now - we entered the world of Down syndrome when our 10th child (of 11) was born.
       He has Trisomy 21, otherwise known as Down syndrome. My thoughts, when I found out at his birth that he had this unique chromosome make-up, were all over the place - I was transported in my brain back to my school-yard days and how I used to (shamefully speaking now) make fun of a few kids with Down syndrome. I also remembered a young man that had Down syndrome that I went to high school with - he really was an okay kid, just a little different and I would eat my lunch with him sometimes. Now, just hours shy of my 40th birthday, I was the mother of one of these unique children.
      What has gone on the past 5 years and how this little man has become a part of our family is one thing I will attempt to share with you all over the next month. I will also try to show how Osiyyah (my boy with Down syndrome) functions in a family of 13 and all that goes on at a very busy, 40 acre ranch. And, other random thoughts that happen to go through my brain during the coming days.