Sean Adelman's Blog, page 6

October: Awareness Month…

I’ve been enjoying so many blogs, web pages and facebook stories lately.  Since this is Down Syndrome Awareness this month I thought I would share a few of my favorites.

First the National Down Syndrome Congress has a wonderful campaign called “We are More Alike”  here is the link:ndscenter.org/morealike/flash/ This shows real people doing real things in inspiring, realistic ways.

We are More Alike than Different

 

Second is an amazing Blog by a mum in Canada, called Down Wit Dat

 

She is new to this path, but has become a tremendous source of information for me.  As most of you know Dev is 16, so we’ve been on this road for a while, but sort of with blinders on.  Jen Logan has written some great blogs about the history of DS.  Things that I find fascinating, yet I never looked into before.

Cool Blog with a tremendous amount of information

 

Another Web page with great, up to date information is the Global Down Syndrome Foundation

This foundation is relatively new and founded by invested grandparents.  The statistic presented and the research funded show that we can all make a big difference in the world we live in.

A new Foundation making huge strides in every direction.

 

The last one I will promote here is Facebook mogul Rick Smith (Noah’s Dad):

Rick and Noah (and Mom) bring smiles and community to so many families!

They also have a blog: http://noahsdad.com/ that has great information.  The facebook community created by Noah’s Dad is amazing, supportive, inspiring, Thanks Rick.

I think we are living in an amazing time.  We can reach across counties to make friends and support strangers.  We can draw inspiration and gain empathy from a much larger group than ever before.  We can also mobilize and increase awareness, change laws, be empowered in new ways.  So enjoy some of these sites and maybe start one of your own.

 

Memories of September 11, 2001

In Dev’s History class they were discussing 9/11 events. I love that Dev brings school stuff home. So, we shuffled through some pictures and talked about what she remembered. I think she has more memories of us talking about it, as she had just turned 5 when it happened.

We were in Florida at the time, Sean was in the Air Force, serving the last year of his 4 year commitment for his academic scholarship. It was a normal morning; I had dropped Dev off at pre-school and was walking her older sister into her first grade room when the secretary’s office had a group of parents gathered around….

It was a very small town, it’s only purpose really to support the Air Force base. Everyone knew things would change quickly. With in 2 weeks we were saying our good-byes to Dad as he deployed to “undisclosed” areas. So the girls and I moved into that weird mind set of “wait and see” Our Air Force friends were amazing and supportive. The girls have some good memories of parties and sleep overs. For Christmas that year we chose to visit Sean’s family (he was still deployed) in New York. We took the train to the city, saw the remains and a few sights. It was very moving.

Family in NYC Christmas in NYC after 9/11/01

Then in the spring Sean came home, YEAH!

Welcome Home Dad, spring 2002

Some how it is all very unreal, more like a story I’ve heard than a story I get to tell.

Here is Dev’s journal entry last night after we looked through pictures.

Dev’s Journal about September 11. Written on 9/12/12

 

I hope and pray for peace daily.  Deep respect to all that serve for our safety.