Why GiGi’s? | Nicole

Nicholas is our third and final child. After our second child, we weren’t sure if we should have another baby; we were in our mid-thirties, we’d had two kids in 2.5 years, and my career was just starting to recover from two maternity leaves. And the cost of daycare! But we were talking one night and one of us – I can’t even remember which of us anymore – said, “we’ll never regret having another, but we very well may live to regret not going for it while we still had the chance!” and truer words have never been spoken.

My pregnancy with Nicholas was the easiest of the three and I truly relished it, knowing it would be my last. I did have two, maybe three, distinct moments where I wondered whether he would be born with Down syndrome, a thought that never occurred to me with my prior pregnancies. It was not an anxiety-inducing thought; more of a “hmmm…what if?” My boss at the time had an adult daughter who has Down syndrome, and she often spent time at our office. I was inexplicably drawn to her and formed quite a bond with her during my pregnancy. She used to talk to and rub my belly, and I am certain that she knew about Nicholas.

As an attorney, I’ve spent the majority of my adult life in a world of facts and logic, but having Nicholas and being lucky enough to meet literally hundreds of beautiful, amazing people who share that extra chromosome has proven to me beyond a reasonable doubt (haha) that magic exists in the world. From the time that Nicholas was a tiny baby, I’ve been certain that he and his friends (as our family refers to people with DS) are more highly evolved than the rest of us; they seem to have it all figured out – they’ve transcended the meaningless everyday garbage that bogs us down. They are beings of love and light, and I truly feel sorry for people who aren’t lucky enough to see that.

This is one of the major reasons that I’m so excited to bring GiGi’s Playhouse to Sacramento. To have an actual, physical place to bring more families together to share the joys – and yes, the sorrows – that we all experience is an absolute dream come true. And making our beautiful, capable, incredible community more visible to the masses is just about the best thing I can think of.

Nicole