Church yesterday

June 8, 2009 on 8:27 am | In Joey, Language, Catholic | 5 Comments

Yesterday’s church service was amazing. It’s going to sound awful, but a little confession to make, I usually don’t really listen in church that much mostly due to the face we’re in the crying room trying to keep Joey under control. Anyways, back to my story, right at the begining of the priest’s sermon, I heard him say “children with special needs” so of course, my ears perked up.

He goes on to talk about a book (I wish I would have caught the title) he was currently reading about an autisic boy who was getting hippotherapy and was explaining how the author of the book (the horse trainer) was asking the boy were he wanted to go. He usually didn’t get an answer but one day he got a grunt. The next time, he got a word, the next time 2 words, ect…

The priest went on to talk about communication and patience. It was like he was talking to us! The past week has been one of those rough ones for me where I wish Joey would just talk! There’s no one else in the church that has a child with DS or autism that I know of. I actually had tears in my eyes listening to him talk!

In the past few months, we’ve switched churches to one that has a larger crying room so Joey wouldn’t be as overwhelmed by all the children so I still don’t really know our priests that well.

After mass, I went up to our priest with Joey and thanked him for everything he said and he looked down and saw Joey and got a big smile on his face. He went on to tell me that his cousin also has Down syndrome.

Did I mention, Joey got reckonized by one of his classmates on the way up for communion?! It was so cute, the little girl says to her mother, “Mommy! It’s Joey!!”

Maybe I’ll listen in church a little more from now on :)

31 for 21, October 17th

October 17, 2008 on 8:33 am | In Down syndrome, Articles, Pro-life, pre-natal testing, Catholic, Sarah Palin, 2008- 31 for 21 | No Comments

Get It Down; 31 for 21

****Don’t forget to enter in my second giveaway of the month, get your chance to win an awareness ribbon cookie cutter!!!

A wonderful article written by Leticia from Cause of Our Joy.

Civil Rights, Now! — For Down’s Syndrome Babies

Posted By Leticia Velasquez On October 14, 2008 @ 12:00 am In The Edge

“Trig Palin’s moment in the national spotlight is a milestone of the civil rights movement for those with Down syndrome. But it comes at a paradoxical time. Unlike the legal protections accorded the rights of minorities and women, civil rights for people with Down syndrome have rapidly eroded over the past few decades. Of the pre-natally diagnosed cases of Down syndrome, about 90 percent are eliminated by abortion. Last year the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended universal, early testing for Down syndrome — which has only been recommended for older pregnant women. Some expect this increased screening to reduce the number of Down syndrome births to something far lower than the 5,500 annually we see today, perhaps to fewer than 1,000″ – Michael Gerson, Op-Ed in Washington Post, Sept. 10, 2008. The painful irony we parents of children with Down syndrome have been enduring for decades is this: If our children make it to birth, they are offered panoply of therapies, benefits, and Special Education. IF they make it to birth. And there’s an increasingly slim chance they will in America.

The abortion rate of children with Down syndrome is even higher in France, land of both Charles De Gaulle who had a beloved daughter with Down, and Dr Jerome Lejeune who discovered its cause in 1959 and spent the rest of his life seeking a cure.

These men’s lives are inspiring examples of respect for the people whom David Gerson describes as “learning slowly and loving much”. Tom Vander Woude’s death is another. A sixty-six-year-old father of 7 boys, Tom, a retired Vietnam War pilot, bought a farm in northern Virginia to raise his family. Tom’s youngest son, 22-year-old Joseph whom he called Josie, has Down syndrome. Friends say that wherever Tom went, Josie was with him and that Tom was a tireless advocate for the rights of those with Down syndrome. Three weeks ago, Josie fell into a 10 foot deep septic tank on the property and was drowning in sewage. Tom dove into the tank telling a worker, “You pull, I’ll push”, immersing himself in the muck to save his son. Josie did survive the ordeal, but tragically, Tom didn’t. There could be no stronger affirmation of the worth and human dignity of an individual with Down syndrome than that given by Tom to his son. But sadly, examples like these are the exception. Continue reading 31 for 21, October 17th…

Mass at Yankee Stadium

April 21, 2008 on 11:23 am | In Photos, Videos, Catholic | No Comments

We got home Saturday evening from our trip home to Ohio and then Sunday morning my husband, Patrick and I made our journey into New York City with 60,000 other Catholics to see Pope Benedict XVI at Yankee Stadium.

Talk about amazing! It was truely a life changing experience that words cannot even begin to describe! The energy from everyone in the stadium during mass was unbelievable!

Here are some of the pictures I took yesterday and even 2 short videos.


Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

6 days until…

April 14, 2008 on 11:29 am | In Catholic | 2 Comments

In less than one week, my husband and I are traveling down to NYC to Yankee Stadium to see Pope Benedict. We are so grateful and feel so blessed to have this once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Holy Father give mass.

Days until we get to see Pope Benedict… 6 days and counting!

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