A Dream Come True.....

Grace had her very first "friend" birthday party yesterday....and I cried!

But, these were tears of joy for a dream realized.

You see, Grace has never been invited to a "friend" birthday, nor has she had one of her own.

With her birthday approaching, Kevin and I talked about our hopes and dreams for Grace as she gets older. We both agreed that we hoped that she will have many friends, both with and without disabilities.

With this in mind, we contacted her regular ed teacher Miss McNally and asked her who would be good to invite to her party. Just a couple of girls; Miss McNally readily gave us the names of two girls who go out of their way to befriend Grace in the classroom, at recess, and during daily activities.

So, with some trepidation, we sent the two girls invitations to Graces big party to be held at our local SplashDown water park. The day before the party, we got RSVP's from both girls stating that they would be coming. In fact, one of the moms said that when her daughter got home from school, she was so excited to share that she was invited to Grace's party and that no matter what was going on this weekend, that this was one thing she was not going to miss!

Grace's party started at 4:00 yesterday. Many good friends of many ages & abilities showed up. BUT, the best part of the whole afternoon was watching three little friends go up and down the stairs a million times to go down the waterslides. There was no "Down syndrome", just friends who love Grace just the way she is!

Yes, I cried.

As we put Grace to bed last night, she kept repeating the same four words "party, presents, swimming, pizza....." We all went to bed last night thanking our heavenly father for his "Grace" in our lives.....

Love, Paula