Jackie and Emily

[Jackie]

Hi....Jackie here....mom to Emily who will be 22 on May 3!  We live in the Texas Panhandle....I am an artist and former Occupational Therapist.  She is a graduate of the special services program at Eastern NM University/Roswell where she specialized in the food service program and lived in the dorms for a year and a half.  She is now looking for a job but meanwhile is addicted to soaps....Passions being her favorite.  She has a boyfriend without DS named Elvis who drives a red truck and works at Lubys.  She loves to travel and probably wont actually get a job until summer is over because we have lots of trips on our agenda.  In August she will address the NDSC as part of a group of people with DS who are featured in the book Common Threads.

I also have three older children...a boy and two girls.....and....three and almost four grandchildren.  I have been involved in advocacy since almost day one ...but am not a militant parent...LOL.  My husband is a very busy physican...an endocrinologist who's specialties are thyroid and diabetes. I am probably the oldest poster....I qualify for the seniors grand slam breakfast at Dennys.  I too will post pics when I figure out how....but there are usually several of Emily in each months photo album....

[Michelle Mc]

Jackie,

You are a true treasure to all of us on this site.  I should make up a special animated sparkling gem just for you!  

I know everyone on Uno Mas is so grateful to you for taking the time to share the ins-and-outs of of Emily's life as a young adult.  Your stories are fascinating, entertaining and give us all a lot of hope about what is possible for our kids.  Sometimes I wonder if she ever says "Mom!  Stop telling those people about me!"  I hope not.  Because I love reading what she's up to.

Emily's adventures are particularly of great interest to me, because Casey is nearly a teenager and I'm wondering what's to come next!  Yesterday, Casey told me "Mom, I know what I'm going to be when I grow up."  When I said "Really!?  What's that Casey?"  He said matter of factly "AN ADULT !"  Then he got a big smile on his face, like he had tricked me with a riddle!

Was it you that told that story about the "Chicken and the Egg" on the message board?  I thought that was hilarious and needed to be added to the Funny Stories Page.

Anyway, do you have those pictures online?  Or maybe we can link to them on from the UM photo album.  Let me know which are your favorites and I'll see if I can help you get them posted here.

Oh yeah ... I know you've been an active Uno Mas gem for years.  Is it okay to add an Uno Mas old-timer to your signature ?    Or Uno Mas regular?

Thanks for your great stories and wisdom!
Michelle

[Debbie]

Hello. My name is Debbie. I am kind of new to this since this board was not here the last time I posted a message on the message board.

I am not a parent but an adult who has Down syndrome. I have Mosaic Down syndrome. I have posted on the message board before many times but it has been a while since I have been back on. I just recently posted a new message on the board the other day. The message pretty much shows everyone who I am.

I live in the same town where Jackie and Emily live.

Jackie, I wish I had known of the art show. I would have loved to see your art!

I hope to add my experiences of living with Down syndrome to this board. I have done this many times on another web site. I love to add my words to help parents and maybe show some insight into what it is like to live with having Down syndrome.

I am forty one. I volunteer in my community and love to read and write. I write poetry from time to time. I want to finish my bio some day and see if anyone would be interested in publishing it.

I hope to see who else posts mesages here.

[justinsmom]

Jackie I appreciate you sharing your stories of Emily and her accomplishments. I always look forward to hearing about Emily. You's are truely an inspiration to us all. I just hope I can do as much for Justin as you have with Emily. You must be so proud. She is truely a lovely young lady.
Michelle Mc- Thank you so much for this site if it wasn't for this site I truely don't think I could have made it through the first few months following the birth of Justin. God Bless you and again thank you.

[firedog]

Jackie,

Thanks for posting. I have several questions as to what and how James (my 3yo w/DS) will fit into society when he gets older. As a parent all my hopes of high school, college, career, and children were dashed when we found out about James and DS. Now I know that all are obtainable except for the children. I am trying real hard to make sure I don't limit James. I want him to have a fulfilling life and be a contributing member of society. I now know that is all obtainable from hearing from other parents such as yourself. I thank you for sharing some of Emily's life with me/us.

Congratulations for being such a good parent for Emily and helping her achive goals 40 years ago were unthinkable.

David ;D