12/31 Book give-away Research

In honor of Down syndrome awareness month I will be publishing excerpts from “From Grief to Celebration, How One Family Learned to Embrace the Gift of Down Syndrome” for 12 days. Each day features a different verb/chapter and at the end of the month we will give-away three copies of the book, signed by Alex. Priceless! 

I wrote, "From Grief to Celebration, How One Family Learned to Embrace the Gift of Down Syndrome"  to share this story of love, life, magic and down syndrome. Our critically acclaimed book details our journey through ten verbs beginning with grief, ending with plan and incorporating one bonus verb, celebrate. I hope this can be a resource to help others embrace, understand and learn. The book is available through this blog ($12.50) on-line booksellers ($13.99) and kindle (reduced to $3.99 during October).

Verb 2 - Research

It seems everyone knows “someone you should talk to” when an extraordinary event unfolds in life. I’m not the type to make cold calls on someone’s suggestion. But in this case I wasn’t shy. I got the names of a number of local families who had children with Down syndrome. It surprised me just how many families there were, as we lived in a small community and I had never met many of them. I have since learned the Down syndrome community is large — there are over 400,000 people in the United States with Down syndrome. Alex is not unusual at all.

After speaking with three families, I began to notice a pattern to our conversations and heard the same thing repeatedly:

“Alex will bring sunshine to your life.”

“Alex will make you a better person.”

“Alex will enrich your live in ways you never knew existed.”

“Alex will lead a full life.”

It was as if these parents all drank a magic potion that caused them to say the same thing. I did not believe for a second they were right. But within six months I learned  I was wrong one, more wrong than I have ever been. I have guzzled that magic potion and can say those words as fast as I can say my own name. Reaching out to others with similar experiences is crucial, but I also had to learn this myself.

I learned firsthand that knowledge is power. Understanding as quickly as possible what our future looked like was a relief. It was almost as if the clouds of grief became rays of sunshine. I believed the books, but I should have believed those parents, although sometimes the only way a lesson can be learned is through experience.

To read more please enter our give-away:

These are only two requirements to be entered in the drawing - and Alex will pick the winner!

1. Please like "The Ordinary Life of an Extraordinary Girl" on facebook (link on the sidebar), or
2. Follow this blog, on networked blogs (also on sidebar)

Of course, you will need to tell me you did this, either as a comment or by e-mail theextraordinarygirlllc@gmail.com .

Stay tuned

13/31 Book give-away: Incorporate

14/31 Book give-away: Promote

Check out this week's blog hop!