Last night, Riley and I went to the funeral home for a visitation for a family friend who passed away due to cancer. As we walked in I saw a lady just gravitate towards my child. I am getting pretty bad about remembering names and faces and hoped I was not supposed to know her. She walked up and said. Your daughter is beautiful! My grandson is 19 months old and he has DS. The mom and grandbaby had just left(Bummer, I would have loved to meet them!) But I talked with the woman and her husband for quite a while. She asked about milestones, and when Riley reached them. I told her whenever I'm out and see a child who has Downs I just want to give em a big hug. They are so precious and I somehow feel like we are all connected. Like we're in an exclusive club and WE ARE THE LUCKY ONES!! I feel like we are all kindred spirits blessed with more love than we could have imagined. And though each story is different, they all share common threads. Through events like Buddy Walk, local DS groups, and even this blog, I have been blessed to meet so many wonderful families who are living each day to the fullest and loving every minute with their special children. I feel so blessed to be a part of this loving and supportive community! As we left, in typical Riley fashion, she hugged and waved and blew kisses to everyone. To her we are all the same, she doesn't see race, economic status, abilities, etc. She just sees a world of friends, and if we were all a little more like that, this world would be a better place.