I don’t remember what my mother said when I told her Sophie had Down syndrome. I don’t remember what Ray said, when he heard the news, or even what I said. But I will never forget what my sister said. “Amy will always have someone to get a pedicure with.” It was exactly what I […]
I woke up today singing “Good Morning Baltimore,” which is no wonder considering I sat through three stage performances of Hairspray over the weekend. If there’d been a fourth, I would have been there for that, too. The musical was performed by Detour Company Theatre, a local theater troupe. As the board member who introduced […]
Over the years, I’ve written a bit about Sophie’s fashion choices. Namely that I want to be the one making them — that a kid with Down syndrome has enough challenges without a tacky outfit (or a top hat, or overalls, or a sailor suit, or — okay, I’ll stop). See also: Thoughts on Overalls […]
This past weekend, Sophie performed onstage at the Herberger Theater in downtown Phoenix for the third year in a row. The production is Snow Queen and as far as I know, Sophie’s the only kid with special needs (definitely the only one with Down syndrome) who’s ever been in this show, sort of a Nutcracker […]
This semester, Sophie’s older sister, Annabelle, was asked to write a “This I Believe” style essay for her seventh grade English class. Here’s hers; it’s about Detour, a local theater company. Annabelle and Sophie were part of the cast of “South Pacific” in June 2012. I Believe in Art Art is for everybody. The […]
This morning Sophie and I toured a charter school in downtown Phoenix, our first visit out into “the field” as we look for a junior high for her. “That was fun!” she announced when we got in the car. “Really?” I thought to myself. “Because I feel like I’ve been through a meat grinder.” The […]
This morning I spoke on the phone with yet another special education professional about another school we might send Sophie to. This woman gave her school the pretty hard sell — unusual since so many others have dissuaded me from considering theirs, including a special teacher at the school Annabelle attends. But I wasn’t so […]
Last Friday night was the school fall festival — which really means only one thing, if you’re Sophie. Last Friday night was the cake walk. For the uninitiated: A cake walk is painfully simple. Each player (a dozen or so can play at a time) stands in a big circle, each on top of a […]
The other morning, Sophie emerged from her bedroom just as it was time to zoom out of the house, hurl ourselves at the car and drive three blocks at NASCAR speeds to make it to school before the bell rang. “I want to use this,” she said, something pink and familiar dangling from her fingers. […]
Sophie is obsessed with the night. One of her first questions each morning: “What are we doing tonight?” Can we go out to dinner, will we see anyone special?How about a movie? A trip to Claire’s? And — always — can she sleep in our bed? Ray and I are pretty lenient with that (too […]
