NPR broadcast this segment of ‘This I Believe' a couple of mornings back as I was driving to work. A Penn State professor talks about his daughter, three-year-old Genevieve Rogers who was born with trisomy 21 (Down syndrome).
I now believe Genevieve is here for everyone. I believe Genevieve is taking over the world, one heart at a time — beginning with mine. I believe that what was once our perceived damnation has now become our unexpected salvation.
Genevieve recently turned 3 and is doing very well for herself. She runs and climbs on everything and loves to wrestle with her two older sisters and her younger brother. She doesn't have a lot of spoken words yet, although her first full sentence turned out to be, "What's up with that?"
She does have over 100 signs that allow her to ask for strawberries, pizza or ice cream, or tell us when she wants to sleep, or play on her computer. She goes to a regular preschool three days a week and seems to know more people around town than I do. I laugh every day because of Genevieve.
On my right wrist, I wear a simple silver chain with three little beads on it. I used to say the three beads signified the third chromosome that results in trisomy 21, Down syndrome. Now when I look at those beads, they simply remind me that I don't ever know as much as I think I do, but I'm always capable of more than I think I am.
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