You make this world a better place award

Tonight we will watch the Academy Awards, but I think I have a more important award here. It's the "You Make the World a Better Place Award", given to me by Ruth over at Wheelie Catholic.
That is what some special mom bloggers do by telling us how much joy their children with Down syndrome bring them. They are trying to lower that awful statistic that 90% of these beautiful children are aborted before birth by their blogging, their mothering, and the joy on their faces. They are doing a fabulous job. The award goes to . .
Raising Joey for a great mixture of eduation and personality, this blog shows that Joey is one lucky little boy.
Gabi's world For creating a wonderful family around her lovely daughter, which extends to many of us in the blogosphere.
Pondered in my Heart for providing such wonderful photo essays of life in her home, we feel like we live there.

Since I AM a film critic, and we just watched the Oscars . . .
I have to make a film reference. It was films like these which help prepare me for special motherhood. Two of them, My Left Foot and Rain Man won Best Picture Oscars.
"Rain Man" Selish yuppie Charlie finds out he has an autistic brother Raymond who has been institutionalized, and they bond in a cross-country trip.
"Forrest Gump" Retarded and physically handicapped young man, shows how love and determination help him overcome the odds to become a great man.
"Places in the Heart" A blind boarder and a homeless black man help a struggling widow beat the odds and save her family in the midst of the Great Depression.
"The Miracle Worker"
Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing to scarlet fever, and is out of control, until special teacher Annie Sullivan takes her in hand.
"Radio"
Black young man with mental retardation becomes a special assitant to the town's high school football team, despite local opposition.
"I am Sam"
A mentally challenged man raises a dead friend's daughter and fights to retain custody of her as she grows up.
"My Left Foot" Christy Brown a victim of cerbral palsy writes of his childhood and youth in Ireland with his rough and tumble, loving family who help him discover his calling in life.
"The Ringer" Loser hard up for cash bets he can pretend he has a mental disablity and win the Special Olympics, till his fellow athletes teach him a lesson or two.

I now appreciate the fact that these films helped prepare me for the unexpected joys and challenges of special motherhood.
God bless great special needs mothers who share their joy in their blogs, and great filmakers who can express this joy of loving someone with special needs in film.