Boston Globe columnist Beverly Beckham again chronicles the life of her little granddaughter Lucy, who has Down syndrome. Beckham takes Lucy for a regular cardiology checkup. “Sweet, curious and brave,” Lucy stays still for an EKG and an echocardiogram.

She is all guts and grace, this little girl who, until about 20 years ago, most doctors and books dismissed as a child unable to understand anything, not worth the bother of loving and teaching and raising.

It kills me to think of children like Lucy whom our society wrote off for years, who were warehoused on the advice of experts, who were abandoned and then ignored. It kills me to think of experts today advising women to abort children like Lucy.

She runs down the hall when the tests are finished, laughing as I chase her. It is one hour and eight minutes later, a long, long time for a little kid to be quiet and patient and good. Dr. Geggel is pleased with Lucy’s test results. But like the rest of us who love Lucy, he is equally pleased with Lucy herself.

Earlier columns by Beverly Beckham are here.

(Boston Globe photo)

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 at 7:00 am and is filed under abortion, commentary, Down syndrome, institutionalization, NOT2BEMISSED, personal stories, public attitudes, stereotypes, stigma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.