<\/p>\n
HOUR 5<\/p>\n
WHAT OF THE CHILD?<\/p>\n
My colleague happily announced<\/p>\n
her pregnancy.<\/p>\n
Her doctor advised a genetic test<\/p>\n
for high probability,<\/p>\n
of chromosomal aberration.<\/p>\n
She proudly told us,<\/p>\n
she didn\u2019t need one.<\/p>\n
She was ready.<\/p>\n
Everyone applauded.<\/p>\n
She was brave, she was virtuous.<\/p>\n
Not one had a handicapped child.<\/p>\n
She drank it all in,<\/p>\n
yes she was all of that,<\/p>\n
and more.<\/p>\n
And I asked,<\/p>\n
what of the child?<\/p>\n
A lifetime of disability,<\/p>\n
of frustration, of sorrow, of heartbreak.<\/p>\n
Striving to be like their siblings,<\/p>\n
their peers,<\/p>\n
and falling short.<\/p>\n
Of never being independent,<\/p>\n
told what to do, where to go.<\/p>\n
To never drive, go to a prom,<\/p>\n
to be a wife,<\/p>\n
and a mother.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Slowly the siblings leave,<\/p>\n
and then permanently the parents.<\/p>\n
The child turns old, lonely in a group home,<\/p>\n
and dies among strangers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I know, I have seen firsthand.<\/p>\n
We have a Downs Syndrome child.<\/p>\n
and dread her future,<\/p>\n
when we are gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HOUR 5 WHAT OF THE CHILD? My colleague happily announced her pregnancy. Her doctor advised a genetic test for high probability, of chromosomal aberration. She proudly told us, she didn\u2019t need one. She was ready. Everyone applauded. She was brave, she was virtuous. Not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2873,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-half-marathon-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2873"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133522,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133419\/revisions\/133522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}