It Was an Accident

Earlier I thought of a conversation I might one day have with Lxkas when trying to explain his sister's condition to him, because I know a day will come when he will wonder why his sister is more challenged in certain areas.  This is something that I feel I have to approach the correct way, and perhaps the way I want to approach it isn't the way others would, but I think I also view trisonomy 21 a bit differently than others do. 

I don't accept it as who she is.  I accept it as an accident that happened to her.  I don't feel that this was the way her life was meant to be.  She was supposed to have the same set and number of chromosomes as her father and me.  And unlike a parent whose child has an accident later in life, I will never know who she really was, as her accident happened too early to have ever had that chance. 

So, I would tell him just that; that the accident wasn't anyone's fault, but sometimes they just happen.  She should have come to us on a different course, but because of the accident, she needs us more than she otherwise would have.  She will always need us, and we will always be there for her, to watch over her, love her and make sure she has everything she needs, because that's who family is.

And that's how I've always thougth of Clara, since first learning that she will be born with Down syndrome.  This extra chromosome attached to her and set her on a different course.  It changed how she looks and how her mind works.  My baby had an accident, and I'm here for her.