{"id":140430,"date":"2021-04-02T15:33:58","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T20:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/?p=140430"},"modified":"2024-10-04T15:51:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T20:51:06","slug":"lucy-is-my-why-and-will-forever-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/uncategorized\/lucy-is-my-why-and-will-forever-be","title":{"rendered":"Lucy is my “WHY” and Will Forever Be!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Getting a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome is scary.\u00a0 Most obstetricians do not present this diagnosis in a very positive light; my experience was like they were breaking devastating news to me.\u00a0 My husband and I were left feeling frightened, uneducated, and alone.\u00a0 I started to research support groups and immediately found GiGi\u2019s Playhouse.\u00a0 From the moment you walk through the doors, you are family, greeted with big, warm hugs, and even bigger \u201ccongratulations!!\u201d.\u00a0 We talked about my twin pregnancy, our families, and all the FREE programming<\/a> and support that GiGi\u2019s offered.\u00a0 We left feeling excited, hopeful, and grateful.\u00a0 How lucky were we that the national headquarters in Hoffman Estates was 10 minutes from our home?!\u00a0 People need to know about this amazing place!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On the day Lucy and her brother were born, it took her daddy and I half a second to fully understand what an incredible human being she is.\u00a0 So full of light and beauty.\u00a0 She may only be (not quite) two years old but she has taught my family and I so much.\u00a0 This girl has had more than her fair share of medical issues (we\u2019ve had more Lurie\u2019s Children’s Hospital<\/a> stays than I would like to admit), but through it all, Lucy remains sweet, strong, kind, and positive.\u00a0 She teaches us to live in the present and be happy with each moment.\u00a0 Her smile and laugh are so devastatingly infectious that not even the most hard-nosed of doctors is immune to her charms.\u00a0 I am constantly awed and inspired by her. I once read some good advice; if you want to know how to treat a child with special needs, simply look to their siblings who treat them with absolute love and acceptance right from the start.\u00a0 That is exactly how it should be.\u00a0 It has been my husband and I\u2019s greatest joy watching Lucy with her twin brother and big sister.\u00a0 They are pure perfection together and an ideal microcosm of how the world should treat everyone with different abilities.\u00a0 We are so excited to watch Lucy grow and are positive she can achieve anything she desires.<\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

My hope for Lucy, one day, is for the world to realize that she is more alike than different,\u00a0 that she has hopes and aspirations and unique abilities just like everyone else.\u00a0 Her progress may look a little different or take her a little longer to get there but I know, in part, it will be possible with GiGi\u2019s support.\u00a0 They have programs specifically designed for her, be it a music and language program, fitness classes, or speech therapy, all the way to reading and math tutoring and GiGi\u2019s University.\u00a0 I am very comforted knowing she will be supported for a long time to come.\u00a0 It seems that one of the playhouse\u2019s goals is to make the rest of the community \u201csiblings\u201d of people with Down syndrome:\u00a0 full of love, respect, and acceptance.\u00a0 Walking into GiGi\u2019s is always a celebration, a celebration of differences and abilities, a celebration of support and community, and, most of all, a celebration of life and FUN!!\u00a0 I want everyone to join in that celebration with me.\u00a0 I am fundraising for <\/span>Team We Love Lucy<\/strong><\/span> <\/span>and participating in the GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge<\/a> <\/span><\/strong>because Lucy is my \u201cwhy\u201d and forever will be. – Christy Kasper\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

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Learn more about our GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge<\/a><\/strong> on June 5th, 2021<\/span><\/h2>\n

Don’t forget to TAG your team on GiGi’s Playhouse Hoffman Estates Facebook<\/a> and Instagram!\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome is scary.\u00a0 Most obstetricians do not present this diagnosis in a very positive light; my experience was like they were breaking devastating news to me.\u00a0 My husband and I were left feeling frightened, uneducated, and alone.\u00a0 I started to research support groups and immediately found GiGi\u2019s Playhouse.\u00a0 From…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":296,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4,6,1525,9,1526,8,3],"tags":[111,23,41],"class_list":["post-140430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-activities","category-adults-with-down-syndrome","category-community","category-education","category-free-programs","category-kids-of-all-ages","category-network-with-other-families","tag-freeprograms","tag-gigis-playhouse","tag-guest-blogger"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/296"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}