He never wanted people to see him as different, even though he did realize, to some extent, that he was. He always wanted to be accepted as “one of the crowd.” It was when people were talking about him saying, “John has Down Syndrome,” that he would always correct them saying, “I’m not Down Syndrome. I’m UP SYNDROME.” And “Up Syndrome” he was, in so very many ways.
From John you could learn that the world is a place of many different people. It is a world where sometimes things are not as they seem, a world where brother turns on brother, and a world where sometimes the smallest gesture can mean everything to another person.
John was a loving, giving, funny, joyful and, for the most part, happy person who was dealt a hand in life that most of us could never imagine. He made the very best of the situation, and John was truly an “UP SYNDROME” young man.
Author Melba Heim Wilkat shares the story of her son’s heartbreaking birth, the joys and trials of raising him, and the deafening silence as the door of his life closed.
