What is Your Super Power? My First DS Convention

My mom, my BFF Jos and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend my first ever Down Syndrome convention, thanks to our amazing local group, the Down Syndrome Network of Oregon!!!! The National Down Syndrome Congress was holding it's 43'rd annual meeting and I have only three words to describe what it was like...

IT. WAS. AWESOME!! And the best part? The people. Let me explain.

My first goal of the weekend was get a hug and a selfie with the famous Tim Harris, owner of Tim's Place. If you haven't watched this video yet, you really should. Tim is a rock star, owns his own restaurant, started his own foundation and could literally quit his day job to be a motivational speaker. I remember shortly after Ellie was born my whole family huddled around my phone and we watched his video with tears in our eyes. Tim is a true inspiration. He was a keynote speaker Friday night (making everyone cry tears of joy, of course) and we learned so much from him. These are Tim's Tips for an Awesome Life, take note, they are really great:

1. Love people
2. Work hard
3. Believe in yourself
4. Believe in others
5. Be happy and show it
6. Use your super power

So that first evening, as we headed back to our hotel with our hearts full, we met him! My goal was accomplished- I was giddy can you tell?

I also had the absolute pleasure of meeting some of my Rockin' Moms in REAL LIFE. These gals have been there since our girl was born and I owe so much to them. We have been through thick and thin together, and I am so looking forward to meeting more of our Rockin' Moms in September at our first retreat. Here's a group picture from the dance on Saturday night, along with some of my dead relatives (orbs) haha, roll your eyes it's OK.



During the convention I sat in many sessions that were informative and eye opening. I learned about apps that are helpful as well as Speech therapy tips from Libby Kumin, who is wonderful. I already own her book and seeing her in action was awesome. She genuinely loves the kids she works with and she had some great tips for working in speech therapy tricks during everyday life.

Lastly, I have share with you about my new friend Casey. As we were waiting in between sessions, us girls decided we should sneak in a cocktail. As we sat at the bar a handsome guy with Down syndrome sat down and ordered a Bud Light. Jos immediately sparked up a conversation with him. We learned that he has a girlfriend who he is planning on proposing to, he is a proud uncle of his nieces and he was going to have a new nephew any day. Jos asked him to describe what a typical night would be like after he's married. He said he would come in and ask his wife to get him a beer. We all giggled but then he started talking about dinnertime. He said he would turn the music on while they made dinner, and twirl his wife in the kitchen, just like his dad did to his mom. Jos and I lost it and had huge tears in our eyes. So then we asked him for a picture and were laughing at how his debit card, Bud Light and his shirt all matched!

I ended up finding Casey's mom on Facebook and had to share the story of how he was the highlight of our whole trip. She is an awesome lady! And now I'm friends with Casey on Facebook too! Casey's mom has a company called Wordy Worm Reading. With our girl being such a book lover I am looking forward to learning more about this program! It's amazing to me how life connects us to others, I truly believe all of us were meant to skip our 3:30 session that day! 

Being in a place with hundreds of people with Down syndrome was unlike anything I have ever experienced. It was inspiring, exciting, and gave me hope.I am so grateful to the DSNO for the scholarship to attend this year. I look forward to sharing everything I learned at a mom's cocktail hour at my house! :)  I look forward to being able to attend another convention someday, Florida in 2016? We will see!

No other song could sum up last weekend like this one can, so here it is:

Happy - Pharrell Williams

A Thank You to My Brother's Teacher, 40 Years Later

We all have one. A teacher who holds a special place in our hearts, who will forever be remembered and cherished. They may have gone the extra mile, believed in you when you didn't believe in yourself, or even pushed you when you didn't think you could accomplish something. But the impact they made on your life is something you will always remember.

Mine is a woman named Mrs. West, who I am still in contact with today thanks to social media. When I was placed in her class in the 2nd grade I cried. I begged and pleaded with my mom to switch me to a different class, Mrs. West was mean and everyone knew it! My mom told me that if I still felt the same way in a month, then I could switch. Well luckily she gave me the freedom to make the choice on my own. She ended up being my most favorite teacher of all. She was my teacher in 2nd grade, 3rd grade and even for a few classes in 8th grade. That's a small town for ya! She was something special, and by the way she wasn't mean at all. Strict, yes, but she was loving, gentle, and helped instill confidence in me. She will forever be "that" teacher in my heart.

This brings me to the whole reason I'm writing this post. My brother Danny has been talking about his Head Start teacher Karen ever since I can remember. He's 13 years older than me so it seems like from my first memories as a kid I can remember him talking about this awesome teacher of his. My brother has a memory like a steel trap and can recall things that happened when he was 4 or 5 years old that blow me away. He talks about how she was encouraging, loving, and she wholeheartedly believed in him. It impacted him in a way that stayed with him, for over 40-something years to be exact!

About a year ago my brother picked up his phone and called the information line. Who knew that still existed!? He asked for Karen by name and the town she taught in, which was in California. He was connected to a lady on the phone. Danny giggles when he recalls how he said in his deep voice, "hello, this is Daniel, I am Karen's student from 1969, I was 4 and 5 years old when she was my teacher." The woman on the other end was Karen's sister-in-law, and she knew Karen would be absolutely thrilled to hear from one of her students. 

When Danny and Karen connected over the phone I wondered if she really remembered him. This was over 40 years ago, and as a special education teacher she had taught many many students in that time. Well they started talking on the phone quite frequently.  Not too long ago Danny excitedly told me that Karen was coming up to Oregon to see him, along with her brother. What? She is? I thought he was surely messing with me.

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Karen in person. She and her brother came all the way from California to see my brother. Let me say that again. They came all the way from California to see my brother, 40-something years after she had him as a student!! They stopped by my house to meet me and my kids. When I opened the door Karen proclaimed "You look JUST like your mother!" It brought a huge smile to my face. It was wonderful to hear her talk about my mom and my brother. Hearing about Danny as a little boy, just Luke's age was so neat to me.

She helped Danny pick out gifts for my kids, coloring books, crayons, pads of paper and more. The boys knew the story behind Karen so they were showing off everything they knew, writing their letters, putting together sentences, counting, you name it. They were excited to have a teacher in the house and she seemed genuinely impressed! I got to sit and chat with her about her life, how she had been a teacher in Head Start and went on to be a speech therapist. She is now retired from teaching. I loved hearing about her students with Down syndrome who she has watched grow up into independent adults. She had such uplifting and positive information to share with me. 

And as to whether she really remembered my brother? She absolutely did! She remembers details such as his favorite movie as a kid. She remembers how smart he was and how funny he was, even way back then! She cares for him so much and it shows. While visiting Danny they even had dinner at my mom's with my other brother Matt and sis-in-law Diane, then went to the casino with my other brother Kevin. She got to meet part of our big crazy family and she said it was one of her best vacations ever. She said she and her brother never stopped laughing.

Danny and Karen

Danny and Karen's brother Dave

Uncle Danny and Ellie

The whole group!

Karen, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hear a lot about how I will have to fight for Ellie once she's in school, be her advocate, and that it won't come without major challenges. I have been avoiding letting my mind go there because I know at age 3 she will be in the ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education) program and will be out of EI (Early Intervention) where we are now. I feel safe in this place and so the thought of her being in school scares me. We are only a year away! Fear was creeping into my heart, but meeting you has replaced that fear with hope. I am so grateful for teachers and human beings like you. You genuinely care for my big brother and I hope and pray that Ellie has her own Karen someday. Thank you!!

For this week's song I thought about my bro and his favorite music. He loves his Irish tunes and is so proud of his heritage. One of his most favorites (besides Wild Rover) is Danny Boy, hmm I wonder why? Here is a great version by one of Danny's favorite singers, Johnny Cash.

Danny Boy - Johnny Cash