Coincidences?

Before Bryce was born I didn't know anyone who had Down syndrome.  There was no one in my immediate circle of friends and family who had DS.  Although, throughout my life, I can remember crossing paths with many people who had DS.  Maybe this happens to everyone.  But, I can remember since I was very young coming into contact with lots of people who had DS. 

My first memory of noticing someone with Down syndrome was when I was in about the second grade.  I remember playing on the playground with a little girl who had DS.   We played in the sandbox together.  She went to my school, but back then there was no inclusive education, so I never had any classes with her.  

Much later in life, the year after I had graduated from college I was at a neighborhood swimming pool.  There was a woman there who worked at the grocery store where I shopped.  She was with her baby girl.  I hardly knew this woman and I asked about her baby.  I couldn't really see her because of the sun glare and they were under an umbrella.  She told me that her baby was 15 months old.  I commented on how tiny she was.  (I really wish now I hadn't said that.)  She told me the baby had DS.  I don't remember what I said after that.

6 years later, I was at yet another grocery store.  (this time in another state.)  As I was standing in line to check out, I noticed a mother with a little boy sitting in the front of the grocery cart.  This little boy had DS.  But, this mother looked very sad.  She might have only been sad because she was having a bad day and it had nothing to do with DS.  But I felt sorry for her.  

2 years later while Payton was taking a ballet class, there was a little girl in her class who had a sister with DS. While I waited for Payton's class, I would see this little girl running around the playing for the entire 45 minute class.

1 year after this while I was pregnant with Bryce I used to take Braydon to a tumbling class while Payton was at school.  There was a little boy in that class with us who had DS.  

Another strange thing was the church David and I joined.  There must be hundreds of churches to chose from in the Denver metro area.  David and I joined a church 4 years before Bryce was born where the head pastor, Harvey Martz, has a son who has DS.  Harvey's wife, Judy, was the President of the National Down Syndrome Congress.

  

Also, when I was in high school, one of my favorite TV shows was Life Goes On.  It was a drama about a family.  One of the children in the family was a young man who had DS.

Before I had Bryce, I read two novels that centered specifically around Down syndrome.  The books were Jewel by Bret Lott and The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.  

Before Bryce was born, we did not know he had Down syndrome.  

Do these types of things happen to everyone?  Does everyone cross paths a lot with people who have DS?  Maybe they do.  Maybe this just shows the prevalence of DS in our society.  Or maybe somehow I was being prepared for Bryce.  Maybe all of these "coincidences" were there to provide comfort for me.  Maybe God was trying to prepare me somehow, since I was completely blind-sided by the diagnosis.  

I don't know.  I like to think of them as more than coincidences.   Over the past 9 months, I have thought about all of these events often. And I have found comfort.