Grandmother Speaks

This entry is from Lincoln's grandmother, Mary.

I just love reading these daily offerings from Sam and Liz about life with Lincoln. I even asked if a doting grandmother could have a posting and they said YES!! I am Sam’s mother and let me say right up front that I adore all of my 11 grandchildren. No one loves to spoil as much as I do. Having said that, Lincoln has totally stolen my heart. The day he was born seemed to be the end of the world for me. I had grief for Sam and Liz, grief for Nicholas, grief for Lincoln and grief for myself.

Was I ever wrong. Now, absolutely nothing gives me more pleasure than to get a phone call or an e-mail that tells of the tiniest piece of progress from Lincoln. But lately, those pieces of progress are getting bigger and bigger. He is climbing, signing, eating and even trying to talk. I still marvel that a tiny little 2 year old who lives 600 miles away can make me laugh or make me smile with just one phone call from his parents.

I work as the Director of Communications for a hospital in Amarillo. I have tapped into every single person that I know who can help me understand Down syndrome just a little better than I did the day before. They have taught me that Lincoln is going to learn and grow and go to school and love Sunday School and dance when music comes on and giggle when you play peek-a-boo and snuggle up to those who hold him close and follow his brother every where he can and play extra rough with his cousins and eat what he likes and avoid the rest and on and on and on. And that is exactly what he does.

I have a bit of an obsessive compulsive quality to my personality. Therefore, I have spent the past 2 years researching the best pieces of therapy equipment to send to Lincoln. I even bought all of the cousins in Austin motorized jeeps so that Lincoln can think driving a jeep is what he is supposed to do. I have read about and met with an attorney and then established a Trust Fund for Lincoln that is geared to his special needs. I have charted and graphed his growth. I have plotted out all of his milestones. I have generally made a complete nuisance of myself in that special way that grandmothers all over the world do when one of the chicks may be struggling.

We will leave for Austin this week to celebrate the birthdays of 3 grandsons (Nico, Barron and Lincoln), 2 sons (Barry and Sam) and one Grandpa (Larry) who all have birthdays within 6 weeks of each other. Larry, my husband, will do a posting later, but I think we will wait until after the big party to see what he thinks of Lincoln since it will have been 3 months since we saw him last. Right now, he thinks that Lincoln is one of his best buddies. But more about that when he posts…………..