More Than Lucky

When I got this tattoo, I did it to remind myself of the community that I have the privilege of belonging to because of Ruby. There were many moms that I had connected with that help me find stability in a sometimes rocky journey. They offer guidance, companionship, and counsel whenever I need it, and I wanted to honor that 'tribe' by inking The Lucky Few arrows on my arm. After this last weekend, that tattoo has become deeper in meaning.

For the last few days I had the pleasure of escaping town and attending a Down syndrome conference with over a dozen of these women. Some of these women I’ve known in person for years, some of them I’ve only chatted with on the phone or in text, most of them I see once a year at best. But none of that mattered as we came together in our version of a sorority house for the most humble,  connected, supportive experience that I’ve ever had with a group of women (who also happen to be very diverse in their walks of life, linked pretty much exclusively by the fact that we all have a child with Down syndrome).

For three days we talked and laughed, and got real with each other and got silly with each other, and talked about Down syndrome and talked about anything BUT Down syndrome, and swapped recipes and swapped hard life stories, all the while moving from small groups to big groups to one-on-one conversations to quiet reading times by the pool to a loud boisterous table talk. There was no expectation of how you were to spend your time and there was no judgment. We could go to bed early or stay up later than any of us have likely stayed up since we have become parents. "You do you."

While we were at an amazing conference, most of us agree that the house, the time spent with just us was the best part of the weekend. However, the conference had a standout moment for all of us when a 'mom panel' answered a few questions from the perspective of having having teen and adult children. The wisdom and experience in the answers these women gave was palpable. We were all left wanting more, and I kept thinking about how they had come to be so wise and full of perspective. Fast forward to a heavy conversation a few of us had just before bed the last night, and I was in awe once again, but this time by the moms I was sharing the late night hours with. It struck me that we all have some of that wisdom and perspective now, especially when we are giving counsel to someone else. (#mindblown)

Enough rambling.... Even all of the many words I've typed cannot sufficiently describe the freedom and restoration that occurred in less than 72 hours, but I know that as bonding as our experience has been walking through our lives touch by a diagnosis, this weekend cemented the deal. These women challenge me, they encourage me, the lift me up, they sit down with me... So whether we wear the arrows on our skin or around our neck or on our heart, we are all so amazingly woven together that to call these women my 'tribe' seems like an understatement.