Dreams

When we got Kennedy's diagnosis, I was flooded with emotions.  One of them being fear for the future.  Would she be able to do everything she dreamed of?  Obviously it's not something to worry about right now, but for those of you who have been in my shoes, receiving a diagnosis as shocking as Down syndrome - either prenatally or after birth, I'm sure most of you can agree that one of the biggest fears is what the future will hold.  With that said, after things calmed down and I had begun to accept what our new life would be, I realized that you never know what the future holds with any child.  No matter how many chromosomes they have.  You don't know if they'll go on to graduate college, or if they'll go straight to work.  You don't know if they'll ever get married or have children.  For awhile it made me sad to think that Kennedy may never be a mom, especially because I love being a mom so much.  But then I realized that either way, Kennedy may not want that. 

What I dream of for her future, is for her to be happy and to enjoy life to the fullest.  I want for her to be able to do anything that she wants.  If she wants to get married, I want her to be able to get married.  If she wants to live independently, I want her to do that.  If she wants to stay living at home forever, that's okay too.  I just want to know that she's able to do everything that she's dreamed of.  As her mom (and I'm sure my husband would agree) I want to do everything I can to help her achieve those goals. 

I read an article this morning that brought tears to my eyes.  It's about a couple (Heather and Craig) who met at a Down syndrome conference nine years ago, and fell in love.  They are trying to get married, but due to government regulations, doing so would prevent them from receiving assistance and benefits.  Heather is determined to make this happen.  She's already shown her determination by obtaining a position as an Administrative Assistant, which was another dream of hers.  It brought tears of happiness to my eyes, to see that this couple is so in love and will not give up, no matter what challenges they are faced with.  This is what I want for Kennedy.  I want her to have dreams and I want her to work hard to achieve them.  Just like anyone else.  Yes, she's going to have to work a lot harder to achieve the things that others do, but it's going to make it that much more rewarding when she does.  What frustrates me is that individuals with disabilities have to work so hard to get the assistance and support that they need and deserve.  These two individuals are making a life for themselves, but are being "punished" in a way because the government will not provide them with the services they need, if they get married.  This disgusts me.  I'm not going to get into all the things that this country pays for that I believe are unnecessary.  You already know where I'm going with this. 

Kennedy has already shown us that she's not going to sit back and let people dictate what she does.  She's proven so many people wrong in her nearly six months of life.  Here we are six weeks post-op, when we expected to be dealing with significant developmental delays from open heart surgery, she's close to sitting on her own, and just this morning she was scooting around her play mat trying to figure out how to crawl.  I have one determined kid on my hands, and I know she's going to go a long way in life, and prove to people that she can achieve her dreams just like any one else.