Who's got it right?

The other night a man walked up to us with "the look." Before he even said anything I knew he was going to tell us about his relation to Down syndrome. Turns out he has a 62 year old brother with DS, or as he referred to him "a Downs." UGH! I let that slide, sometimes the people first speech gets old. Anyway, he was very sweet and continued on how "Downs people truly are the happiest people." I often hear this statement so Jeff and I got into a discussion about it. "What do people really mean when they say that and why?"

As a group we value intelligence, drive, ambition and determination. In our society these core traits equate a successful person, so we go to school, learn as much as we possibly can and then find a job that is meaningful and work our tails off...BUT what we are really working for is love, happiness, security and purpose. People with DS are naturally loving, caring and empathic individuals and their strengths fall into a category that is extremely pleasing and positive. When you describe the perfect friend or mate the list almost always includes caring, loving, trustworthy and funny followed by driven etc... So what we are all working so hard for is naturally hard wired into people with DS and we think that's why we often hear the "happy statement." Who has it right? Maybe people with DS have it. We are all searching for happiness so maybe the secret lies within that extra chromosome.

The video features three of Brady's current greetings. You never know which one you are going to get. My fav is "bumps" simply due to cold and flu season. There is one more greeting I couldn't show you on film. Brady calls it the swooner and it is reserved for Claire.