This year, we invited Penny to suggest how we should celebrate World Down Syndrome Day. She decided our day of celebrating Penny would include a walk by the river, takeout from her favorite local restaurant, and a family game of Things.
Things is a game where everyone gets a prompt: Things you shouldn’t say in an ambulance . . . Things you wish you had with you while running . . . Then one player reads all the answers out loud, and everyone guesses who came up with the statements.
The first prompt that night was, “Things fish are thinking as they swim around an aquarium.”
Penny won the prize for the best answer: “Am I 6 feet away from the others?”
On World Down Syndrome Day, we didn’t talk much about Down syndrome. We didn’t even tell Penny all the ways we appreciate who she is and how she was made. We just enjoyed a bright spring afternoon and a scrumptious meal and laughing together around the table. It was a fitting way to celebrate the witty, kind, sincere, loving, playful, responsible daughter and sister we have been given.
To read more with Amy Julia:
- Book: Missing Out on Beautiful: Growing Up With a Child With Down Syndrome
- Book: A Good and Perfect Gift
- Celebrating World Down Syndrome Day
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