If I hear "Oh, you have a child with Down Syndrome? They are SUCH angels!!!" again.....
Well, I'll sigh and tell them my kid is just like theirs...she rolls her eyes at me, she ignores me, she talks back to me, she snitches food out of the pantry and lies about it...pretty standard for any 11/12 year old... Not really that much of an ANGEL.
But I do have to bring to the fore a thought I had yesterday...When I was thinking about their drive to live their lives like everyone else, I am reminded that they also tend to celebrate...a lot. Which is, I think, why people think that they are such angels... Which made me wonder why they seem take the lion's share of celebrating? I think it comes back to my commentary yesterday, on the needfulness of trying harder than the average bear to succeed in their plans for life? I think the world thinks they are angels because they are triumphing more, because they are more aware of their goals, because they have to work harder and have more pressure than most.
Pro soccer players or those at the World Cup, for example. They play the same game as my 8 year old niece. The plays are almost identical. The goal, certainly is. To win. But their celebrations... just...wow. I cannot say in all the years of watching soccer games in high school or watching my own kids, have I seen this:
And my sister-in-law hasn't posted any pictures of my niece like this:
I propose that the celebrations that almost all the people I know with Down Syndrome indulge in, may not come from an angelic sense, nor from a child-like comprehension, as much as an exaltation of success or inclusion...against a hard fought battle...after a long, excruciating, physically demanding, and soul-sapping battle.
They might just be reveling in victory.
Which only earns them angelic status, if you want to go the flaming sword route...which, I wonder if it gives you as much pause, as me?
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