GIFTS: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives

We present a sample paragraph from each of the sixty-three essays in Gifts, in groups by theme.

On this page we also have a sample of the introduction by the editor, Kathryn Lynard Soper. You may also read her entire introductory essay as a downloadable pdf.

• The Gift of Respect
• The Gift of Strength
• The Gift of Delight
• The Gift of Perspective
• The Gift of Love

Introductory Essay

Gifts: Two Birth Stories

full essay as a downloadable (pdf: 2.07 MB)

by Kathryn Lynard Soper

I remembered the wisdom and calmness which had graced me that night in the hospital room. Exhausted and bewildered, I tried—and failed—to reach that same wondrous, restful place within myself. But I believed my friend. I trusted her assurances that all was well. She knew—she had lived it. And her words planted seeds of hope that someday, somehow, I would find peace again.