West Texas Couple Celebrates World Down Syndrome Day With Photo of Beautiful Daughter

I saw a post on Facebook earlier from my friend Liz Tuttle. She and her husband are from Lubbock and have a baby girl named Nora who was born with Down Syndrome.

Liz posted a picture of beautiful Miss Nora, saying: "This is the face of Down Syndrome. Nora is beautiful, smart and as silly as they come. Happy World Down Syndrome Day."

I don't have much to say except to point out that, as Liz and I talked about, we all -- in some area, at some time, in some way -- face challenges. And many of our children face stigmas and judgment because of other people's ignorance and situations beyond their control.

I have a brother with Autism. He is very high functioning and has a wonderful life in Lubbock. He grew up in a small town about three hours from here - a town with no public transportation, not even one cab.

My brother was always told 'you can't' to everything he wanted to do. You can't have a job, you can't drive, you can't have a girlfriend, you can't travel.

My husband and I brought him to Lubbock a few years ago after both of our parents passed away. Now, he has a great job at a local supermarket. He has his own apartment. He has his own circle of friends, a girlfriend, transportation around Lubbock with City Access.

He has many, many opportunities that he would not have had if he remained in the small, stagnant town with a judgmental mindset. A town where he was referred to as "the retarded Neal kid." So ridiculous, ignorant and mean spirited.

The World Down Syndrome Day website says that the main thing to remember about people with Down Syndrome is that they are people first. And that is true for all of us, no matter if our challenges are visible or invisible to those around us.

The lens of socially-perceived perfection is a stilted and cruel one. In our society of visual perfection, can we remember to look more and more through eyes of love and compassion and less with judgment?