Colorado Gives Day, Meet Charlie Ager

Colorado Gives Day, December 6, 2022, has grown to be Colorado’s largest 24-hour giving event, and did you know you can start giving as early as November 1st?   Please consider supporting GiGi’s Playhouse Denver with your Colorado Gives Day donations. GiGi’s programs are ALWAYS free for families, but are not free to offer.  By donating, you will help ensure that purposeful programs remain available to families across Colorado, like the Ager family.  Below Charlie’s mom, Ashley, shares her perspective of the before-and-after moments of receiving Charlie’s diagnosis.   

To love is to feel deep affection for someone.

I thought I knew love until I met my daughter, Charlotte “Charlie” Rose. Since the day she was born, Charlie has shown our family what it truly means to love unconditionally. We were scared and uneasy when we received the news that we would likely have a child with Down Syndrome. Not knowing what this would mean for our family or life, we trusted that we were chosen for this and we would get through it. However, since the moment my husband and I held Charlie, we felt a whole new level of love we didn’t know was possible.

When I look at Charlie, I see the purest form of love. She is kind, happy, and everything that people strive to be. Doctors told us that Charlie would likely require significant medical intervention, which may not allow us to keep working and potentially prevent us from traveling which is something we enjoy. Charlie has defied all odds and has been to Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, and Arizona so far in her 18 months of life. Additionally, she has to work for the things the rest of us unintentionally take for granted. For example, standing, eating, walking, etc. She is always up for the challenge and is very driven to overcome the obstacles placed in front of her.

Charlie’s motivation, drive, and ambition inspire me and motivate me to get through my hardest days. Even my largest obstacles are nothing compared to what Charlie has to work at each day. Having a person with Down Syndrome in your life opens your eyes to the most basic things we take for granted and creates a sense of gratitude and humility. The sun never sets in Charlie’s world! She shines her light wherever she goes and gives people a reason to smile and believe good exists in the world. Charlie deserves nothing but kindness and love, as this is what she spreads everywhere she goes! We are truly the lucky ones to have her in our life. She teaches us every day to overcome the odds and, most of all love, purely and unconditionally.