Kind

We will never forget the day that Sully was born and surprised us ALL with her extra chromosome. If I’m being honest the grief was all consuming. This is not what we imagined for our child or our family. We had to take some time to mourn the loss of the child we thought we would have. The first few weeks were dark and scary. I didn’t know much about Down syndrome so I spent many hours in the NICU googling Down syndrome. Yikes, there are some terrible articles out there, but I kept googling and one day I stumbled across Ruby’s Rainbow. While cheesy to say, it was like the clouds parted and a ray of sunshine was shining directly on me and Sully in that dark quiet NICU. I still remember that day and telling my husband what I had found. To find a mom who was helping adults with Down syndrome go to college, COLLEGE, was the most hope I had had since Sully was born. While Liz (Director of Ruby’s Rainbow) doesn’t know she had such an impact on me I am forever grateful to her for showing me my daughter was worthy of everything. EVERY. THING.

Once the fog lifted I began to see Sully as our beautiful capable child who would have some struggles in life but that didn’t make her any less worthy of thriving in this world. We encourage our other three kids to pursue a secondary education and we will do the same with Sully. Yes, she CAN go to college!! Tell me why she can’t and I’ll tell you all the reasons she can. I’ll also tell you about the three beautiful women who have Down syndrome who have received the Sully Drake Family and Friends Scholarship from Ruby’s Rainbow and their successes at college.

And for any new momma’s of a kiddo with Down syndrome who may stumble upon this, know that while things may seem dark right now, that there are not words adequate enough to describe the joy and love that Sully brings to our family and our community. I promise one day very soon you will experience this and realize this is the best journey you never your knew you wanted to go on.

The campaign will run for two weeks and you should receive your shirts just in time to wear them on March 21st which is World Down syndrome Awareness Day. The date has significant meaning as 3/21 also represents Trisomy Twenty-One, commonly known as Down syndrome. If you don’t wish to order online feel free to drop off or mail me money and I can order for you. If you’re local to me (Livingston, Tx) you can choose the option to ship to me and I'll deliver or you can choose to have shipped directly to you. If you’re not local to me please choose to ship directly to you.

Love,
Sully and The Drakes