Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Cause of Our Joy, and my three daughters, the cause of my joy.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
BioTalk, Episode 6: Good News About Down Syndrome
http://www.youtube.com/v/MW7HY5-PDxA?autohide=1&version=3&feature=share&showinfo=1&autohide=1&attribution_tag=76GiqhESXLs5SVbk5C6xnA&autoplay=1
Friday, November 1, 2013
Stand up for Shea Riddell
Shea Riddell is a stunning blond with a dimpled smile and a striking aura of innocence. She smiles shyly from the photos in the article about the bullying incident which had made her a bit of a celebrity. She seems overwhelmed by the attention she is receiving, but still grateful for the support. You can't help but like her. At least thousands of people who have come to her aid feel that way. But not everyone agrees that Shea, who suffered a lack of oxygen at birth which means at 18 she has the mental capacity of an 8 year old, is a lovely teenager.
Someone wants her dead.
Someone in her social circles doesn't like her at all, in fact she has called her vile names and threatened her with rape and violence. Such cruelty is unthinkable, but after a bullied teen committed suicide in Massachusetts and more recently in Florida, it is becoming frighteningly commonplace. How did bullying, which was always present in schools, get so out of hand?
After all, bullying has always existed in the schoolyard. I remember suffering as Shea does way back in 1974, when I was transitioning from elementary school to junior high. An upper class man followed me around the neighborhood, threatening me with a beating as I walked to school alone. Just because of who I was. I was, like Shea, a bit shy, but unlike Shea, I was a good student, a nerd. What we have in common is that we stand out in the crowd, we are different. Different in ways that an unhappy girl can't stand. No school authorities offered to intervene for me and I continued to walk to school alone. Eventually I saw that the threats were empty and the girl who terrified me wound up a lonely single parent in high school. In high school, I felt sorry for her. But that was before cell phones and the Internet made harassment anonymous and omniscient.
I think there is another factor at work in Shea's case. She is mentally disabled. 'Retard' is one of the epithets hurled at Shea, and again, I feel her pain. I have a daughter who has Down syndrome and is mentally challenged. When I learned of Christina's diagnosis and shared it with her nine year old sister, she broke into tears. "Mom, they'll make fun of her like they did to those kids with Down syndrome in school" she sobbed. I reminded her that anyone who is different is mocked by those who are unhappy in life, but she has a point. We have less tolerance for those who are disabled than we used to.It has to do with abortion.
For the last forty years the 'cure' for Down syndrome has been pre-natal testing and abortion. It is now expected that moms who learned their child had Down syndrome will abort, so that no one did research to help those with Down syndrome, and often they were denied life saving treatments. Down syndrome researcher Dr William Mobley shared at a fundraiser for the Lejeune USA Foundation that as a resident working in the Emergency Room he diagnosed a teenager with Down syndrome with life threatening appendicitis. Twelve hours later, when the girl was not operated on and in severe pain, he asked his supervisor why, and the response was "She has Down syndrome". The implication was that her life was not worth saving. Dr Mobley was motivated by this incident to be a pioneer in Down syndrome research so that this prejudice would be overcome, but sadly, not all health care workers have his compassion. Many of my friends were harassed by health care personnel who insisted that they abort their child with Down syndrome before he "ruins your life, and that of your children". Elimination of 'life unworthy of life' has, like recycling and having only two children, become an unspoken civic duty. For the good of the nation as it says in 1984.
So Shea was told by her tormentor. ‘"Why are u still here. Clearly no one wants you. U only have special needs friends." Somehow this person caught the toxic attitude that those with special needs are worthless.
That pernicious attitude demeans all of us. We all need to stand up for Shea and for Christina. Someday our minds will fade and our usefulness will seem to diminish. Someone will think we are using more than our share of resources, and like the European nations who are expanding doctors' authority to cull the herd via euthanasia of the disabled and children.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Ha Nacido Una Madre Especial
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The very week my book A Special Mother is Born was published two years ago this month, I received an email from a Peruvian priest on the way to Rome. His sister in Peru was expecting a child with Down syndrome and the good Padre asked me if A Special Mother is Born was available in Spanish. I was delighted to be able to answer "yes, someday". My friend Marta who publishes "Fe, Fuerza Y Vida" the Spanish language diocesan paper of Rockville Centre (Long Island, NY) was working on a translation. Sadly, Marta became ill and the translation was not finished.It must have been God's will that the book become available in Spanish. Last year, I made a friend in London, journalist and Catholic mom to a daughter with Down syndrome, the gracious Francis Phillips. We are both devoted to Servant of God, Dr Jerome Lejeune, who she wrote about her article Dr Lejeune, Patron Saint of Down's Syndrome? Note that she was able to write to Dr Lejeune for advice when her daughter was born in 1990. Francis was kind enough to review my book for the UK Catholic Herald and Spero News. She also mentioned my book to her friend, Esther Greciano, acquisitions editor for Edicciones Rialp who contacted me this spring about publishing A Special Mother is Born in Spanish.
I have been keeping this a secret for nearly half a year, and today Esther gave me the go ahead to announce that Ha Nacido Una Madre Especial will be available in November.
You may purchase it from the Rialp catalouge or from any one of my blogs via the PayPal button, where you may have it autographed.
I am grateful to God who blessed the work of not only my hands but the other parents whose stories are in the new book, and for my new friends Francis and Esther who understand our love for these beautiful gifts of God. And thank you once again, Dr Lejeune, your heavenly intercession which is being felt as your legacy of love and care for those with Down syndrome lives on
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Sunday, October 20, 2013
World Mission Sunday Fundraiser: Gabriela's Mission Trip to Eduardor
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On World Mission Sunday I am offering the profit I make on my book, A Special Mother is Born as a donation to my daughter Gabriela's mission trip to Ecuador next March. She is going with Franciscan University of Steubenville and is raising funds for it now. Order my book by clicking the PayPal button on the upper right of the blog, order a book, and I will donate my $6.00 profit to Gabbi's trip and ship you a copy of my book.That way, everyone wins, you get a collection of inspiring stories from holy Catholic parents, and Gabbi gets closer to her goal of helping the poor in Ecuador.
Friday, October 18, 2013
True Beauty lies Within
Lord Byron has written a timeless poem about a beautiful woman. If you read it carefully, most of this woman's beauty is spiritual,
"The smiles that win the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,--
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent."
That's why my innocent, loving daughter is the perfect illustration for this poem.(Did I mention that she also has raven tresses!)
"She walks in beauty, like the night"
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light 5
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o'er her face, 10
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent
The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 15
But tell of days in goodness spent,—
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.
"She walks in beauty, like the night"
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light 5
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o'er her face, 10
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent
The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 15
But tell of days in goodness spent,—
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Where do you pray your Rosary?
In honor of the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, I asked my holy,prayerful Facebook friends this question.
I pray it at bedtime.
Where do you pray your Rosary?
Here are there responses:
I pray it at bedtime.
Where do you pray your Rosary?
Here are there responses:
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