Perspective

per⋅spec⋅tive
/pərˈspɛktɪv/
–noun
1. the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship
2. the faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship
3. a mental view or prospect

That's what this last week of Down syndrome Awareness Month is all about for me.

Perhaps yours has changed since reading this blog, since your child was diagnosed with Ds, or just in the last year in general.

I was on another blog earlier and the author asked us to share how Down syndrome has touched our lives. That is a question I've asked others, but how do I narrow my own experience down to a brief statement?

I thought about it for a little while and came up with the following:

My daughter has led me to care about things I never knew existed and let go of things that truly don’t matter.

It's very simplistic, but so true. I think this is a common thread that is running through many of us participating in this 31 for 21 challenge. It's inevitable that perspective changes the further you are along in your journey. How I feel today about Ds, and my daughter having it, is so very different from what I felt this same time in 2007. And next year? Different still, I'm sure.

Over the next several days, I'm going to share with you the words of others. You probably get a good idea of how I feel from reading here, but there are so many other people in my daughter's life.

Tomorrow we will begin to hear from some of the people whose hearts she touches.