Standing On the Shoulders of Giants

While there are many Down Syndrome Superstars nowadays, and a great community of DS Advocates and parents on social media and the blogosphere, it's important to remember those who have blazed the trail for us.  Before blogs, before the internet even, there were families striving to give their children, brothers and sisters the best opportunities and the best lives possible, in a world that probably seemed like it was bent on denying them those same chances.

The Lightning Kid turned one year old, and the King and Queen could hardly believe that much time had passed, nor how much different their world seemed.  The Princes' birthdays were cause for wild, festive celebration, and much was done to mark the occasion.   For the King and Queen, though, it was also a time to reflect.

The King took more walks alone, and though he had chastised himself for doing it too much all too recently, he found himself trying to stare into the future.  He climbed to the top of a hill and stared ahead at the horizon.  As usual, much was cloudy, and unknowable.  Still, he found that if he really concentrated, he could pierce the fog with his vision, and see quite far indeed.

The world of the Lightning Kid's future was one where he could ride as a knight, as any other prince might expect to.  He could serve his kingdom, as any other prince might expect to.  He could marry a princess, as any other prince might expect to.  The King marveled, and asked himself not only how such a future might be possible, but how he could even bring it into focus, when such things would have been unimaginable in his youth.  He turned his eyes from the horizon to his feet, and that was when he noticed that he was not standing on a hill, but on the shoulders of a Giant.  He looked around some more, and the Giant was one of many, all gathered in a cluster, all facing the same direction.

The King turned to the Giants and said: "Thank-you for what you have done; for the strides you have taken, and the ground you have broken for families like mine.  It couldn't have been easy, nor will our path be an easy one, but I hope that we will one day grow to your stature, and that those that follow us might one day see further still by standing on our shoulders too."