I did not invite Down syndrome into my life; it crashed my party. In that devastating moment when my hopes and dreams for my newborn daughter were ripped away, I couldn’t imagine anything could be worse. Fast forward thirty years, and hindsight, as it often does, has replaced the pain and fear I felt in those early days after Stephanie was born with appreciation for an amazing journey that with all its challenges and flaws has made us a stronger family and me a better person.
Today is World Down Syndrome Day and I suspect the average person woke up this morning not knowing that; I certainly had no idea. Continue reading “World Down Syndrome Day: My Thirty Year Perspective”
I’m in my third day of a head cold, and thus far my aggressive attempt to muscle through it hasn’t gotten me very far. Gallons of water, vitamin C and Echinacea – normally reliable remedies– have let me down. My energy level seems to have declined in direct proportion to the increase in sinus congestion. So, after a feeble attempt at working out I decided a long, hot shower might help clear my head and maybe even shake the chill that has been with me since the arctic blast blew through the south earlier this week. The shower did both . . . but only for about ten minutes. 
We’ve all been there, you plan a family beach vacation for spring break and ten days out you start compulsively checking the weather app on your phone because you know how iffy March can be for Carolina beaches. You watch with frustration as the forecast deteriorates each day from a pleasant 75° and sunny to a dreary 42° and rainy the night before you leave; at which point you frantically repack the suitcases removing all the shorts and t-shirts to make room for sweaters and long-pants. 
I don’t consider my relationship with ice cream to technically be an addiction; after all, I just went ten weeks without it. But it is most certainly the biggest challenge my willpower faces, with other favorites like chocolate, Egg McMuffins and wine far easier for me to resist. Now that I’m easing up on the strict diet I embraced earlier this year, my occasional over-the-top love for ice cream might present the only real glitch in the otherwise smooth transition to a more moderate approach to healthy eating.
Like most relationships gone bad, we had our good times. Abby – yes, my Fitbit has a name – and I go way back; she’s been my trusted ally in my quest to stay fit for years. It’s no secret I’ve struggled to maintain the consistency I’d like in my exercise routine, so it made sense that daily monitoring of my activity level was a good strategy to keep me on track. And the added accountability to my “Fitbit friends” was even more incentive to get moving and hit my daily step goal.
Balancing a household budget and ultimately making ends meet for a growing family has never been easy. Add in the expectations to save for a house, college for the kids and that distant notion of retirement and I’m sure it seems impossible. Some of my favorite people happen to be millennials that are challenged with this classic problem right now, and I can assure them this dilemma is not unique to their generation.
One of our local morning shows ran a segment providing tips for a fulfilling retirement. The life coach being interviewed gave the advice touted in hundreds of magazine articles and books; much of it centering around the familiar stopping to smell the roses and finding new purpose sort of themes. Having just spent a couple of days with my grandson, Caleb, it struck me that quite possibly the best role models for making the most of our senior years are young children.
A healthy lifestyle is an important cornerstone of my next chapter for one simple reason: good health provides the freedom to live life on my own terms. That said, staying fit and maintaining a healthy weight has challenged me for most of my life. When it’s my focus I do pretty well, but all too often I’ve let other people or things become my priority and have found myself out of shape and overweight. So, while I accept it as a key element of the life I envision for myself, I know from experience sustaining it is easier said than done. 
