HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE.

Philippe Paquette

Once in a while, it is good for the owner of a website to share something “personal”. Here goes.

Happy birthday Julie.

This is Julie, our 4th child. She is simply amazing! It is her birthday today. She is 28 years old today… and born at this very time in the afternoon, as I am writing this Post, on a Wednesday.  Today is Wednesday.

It was a magnificent January afternoon, the sky was pitch heavenly blue and no clouds on the horizon. My wife and I got to the hospital 4 hours earlier. Julie’s birth was “easy” (relatively speaking) and the birth that we will always remember as the most beautiful one we experienced. Julie will never be able to read these lines, she can’t read… She will never have her own own Facebook account or G+ Page or her own Linkedin profile…  Even a short Twitter of one dozen character in sequence is beyond her abilities.  She will never be able to type or to write. In fact,  she has difficulty speaking. You see, Julie is a Down Syndrome Person and her abilities are too limited to allow her to develop to that extent.  (It is not so for all Down’s children… but it is so with our lovely Julie). Yet, Julie has brought into our lives so much JOY, so much amazement,  so much amusement, so much LOVE,  that loving her this much “hurts”.  She is what I would consider a “perfect” child and human being. Daily, she makes us laugh and seems to live a “perfect life” (if we can ever imagine what that is) . It seems that she can… she seems perfectly happy every single day of her life.

No one has given me so much natural tenderness in the very depth of my heart as she has. Never have I felt one single iota of a negative sentiment from her. Never did she disobey or rebel.  The perfect sweet docile child… A true gem and a true delight. We are so happy and deeply privileged to have her as our child and now as an adult and I know that I speak for my dear wife as well as her amazing Sister and her two awesome Brothers. Her siblings love her “to die for”… and trust me, it is true. Julie has united us into a bond that is inexplicable. But that is the Power of Down Syndrome Persons. Tonight we will celebrate Julie’s birthday having what we all love, Sushi. Her brother has invited us to one of the best places in town for Japanese cuisine and we can’t wait for our diner.

  Unfortunately, her sister is sick with a violent cold and can’t be with us and her other brother happens to be in beautiful Japan… so they will be missed but we will still have a wonderful time together, celebrating her 28th year. But I do want to share with you the following that I consider of importance (relating to Down Syndrome Persons). _____ In Canada, Science has recently developed a method,  in order to determine at a very early stage of pregnancy, if the baby is “Down”.  This was not so before. Today, Medical Science can diagnose a Down baby growing in the body of her Mom in only a few weeks following conception. The results, according to Statistics Canada, is that 95% of Down Syndrome babies are now aborted. Yes. 95%. The sadness of this is not only the termination of life.  It is the profound loss of never allowing these parents and families to experience the uniqueness of the beauty of these Persons. These special Persons make your lives much better in a multitude of ways. Their positive and happy contribution cannot be measured. Yes, in some instances, life may be tougher, especially for the parents. But what they (Parents) receive in return from these wonderful human beings profoundly outway those “difficulties” by a million mile and more. In essence, in Canada, at least, beautiful amazing Persons like Julie will no longer exist. 95% of them will never see the light of day… never experience a family evening out trying different assortments of any kind of food and never be able to give to the ones that could share their lives the great gift of what it is to have and live with a Down Syndrome Person. (Deep down, I have discovered that they are, in a certain secret way, “superior” to so called “normal” people like you and I on many levels). They are a wondrous true gift from God our Father.

It is a HUGE loss to Society. Greater than what anyone can ever evaluate.

—— Happy birthday beloved Julie. We love you so much… and we are so happy to share this day with you and hopefully,  for another 28 years… and then another… Philippe Paquette Father (and a very proud one today sharing my life with yours, dearest Julie ).