Hallo Billy, Mummy wrote this post on her book site and it talks about you as well. So Mummy'll put it here too. We've been all well, many exciting things happening. It's October. November comes with darkness, coldness and a reminder of your birthday. Night Billy. Love you loads, baby. XXXXX
'Many people write and talk about Down’s syndrome in many different
styles, from a wide range of angles raising awareness of why it happens,
what are the myths and so on. We as a family will never forget the
consequence of Down’s syndrome. It affected us so many ways. Our
two-year-old points at the cemetery and calls her brother’s name, her
brother that she never met. October is a hard month as it whispers into
our hearts that Billy’s birthday is next month. Other parents prepare
birthday presents and cakes and we are silently crying, looking at
children around Billy’s age coming out of nursery gates and feeling the
heavy emptiness in our hearts.
I remember walking down the street with Billy, super-sensitive and
ready to spot anyone’s glance and preparing myself to hear nasty
comments. Perhaps now I might be offending parents and carers who are
with their babies, with their teens by staring at them, trying to
picture what it would have been like with Billy. Our family might look
‘normal’ from the outside walking down the street, but Billy is missing.
What I’m trying to say is that we never know other people’s stories.
I don’t know what Billy’s first smile would have been like, I will
never know. I had a glimpse of his smile while he was sleeping on a
hospital bed. That was the only smile I was to see. So yes, be aware
that there are many parents, relatives, grandparents, sisters and
brothers out there remembering their loved ones because Down’s syndrome
changed them, hurt them and made impacts in their lives.'