OK, I know it's not politically correct to use the word retarded. But, what if it were not a "bad" word? What if you hadn't had a negative reaction when you saw it in my blog title? Search your heart. Rethink this. My son has Down Syndrome. He lives in a world in which everybody treats him like he's "retarded." I'm his mom. My son teaches me so many valuable lessons that I am often too "slow" to get. I'm the Retarded (Loving) Mother.
My brother-in-law, Gary, sings opera, loves opera, and knows opera. Gary has often said that the tenor, Mario Del Monaco had the kind of voice that could awaken the soul and music in anyone who heard him. Yesterday, Taylor heard Del Monaco sing. Right here in our kitchen. Aunt Martha worked the computer. As soon as brother Cole saw Taylor's response to the music, he began filming. Taylor sang from his heart. Unabashedly. Openly. Freely. With gusto.
His soul was talking/connecting/singing back to the tenor who had awakened something inside of him.
This is a rendering of a raw, unfiltered music connection ----straight to the heart/ears/soul of a precious human who has no preconceptions about what "good" music is. Taylor just sang what he heard. Would that we could all sing and dance----as if no one were watching.
Sing on, Taylor.
Sing on---each of us.
I pretty much cried every day the first five years of Taylor's life. Now I just cry on Sundays. (Card by CC Louie)
Welcome. You're brave to be here with me.
"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its weakest citizen. " That's kind of heavy, but it is something that has tugged at my life for the last 33 years. So, here's my story. I am a mother of a son with Down Syndrome. Pull up a chair. Sit with me in my life. Teach me something.
Look at all of these incredible people below!! You can be one too!
My son is 33 and has Down Syndrome. I did not get the manual when he was born. I am making stuff up as I go. I want to be the best mother I can be to him. My son is "complete." He' is perfect. I'm the slow one. I'm trying to catch up.
