We were excited walking into the doctor's office. The nurse was great as she patiently described what we were seeing on the ultrasound screen. She told us when not to look because we wanted to be surprised with a son or daughter. While marveling at the miracle we saw on the screen the doctor came in and somberly pointed at what he saw as an imperfection and said "here's an indication of Downs you may want to consider the options" referring to an abortion. We responded that we were pro-life and there were no options. Several more times he pointed to other irregularities and said "you should reconsider". We left the office upset with the doctor and scared for the health of our child. We chose to put our faith in God and accept whatever He had in store for us. Several months later Seth Nicholas introduced himself to the rest of the world. He was perfectly healthy but had something most of us don't, an extra chromosome the medical folks call Trisomy 21. We call it the love chromosome.
We didn't plan it but the day we scheduled Seth's Baptism just happened to be the day Bishop Gaydos stopped by for a visit. Seth learned at an early age how to draw attention to himself. As Mass started with the opening song Seth raised a big stink, literally. Mommy raced him to the restroom for a frantic diaper change in cramped quarters while the congregation used up every verse in the song and started over for the second or third time. When Seth finally returned to his place of honor everyone was smiling especially the bishop.
A couple months later as the days started to warm up daddy experimented until the car seat fit securely in the sidecar and Seth took his first of many motorcycle rides. Surprised looks were the new norm for us. Most of the people were intrigued by our form of transportation though there were a few who showed their disapproval. Seth was oblivious to all opinions, he just wanted to ride. If I stopped for more than two minutes he would start protesting but would quiet down as soon as we started moving again. We discovered Seth was more content riding in the sidecar as he could see us while we traveled down the road compared to staring out the back window when stuck in the car. This worked so well Seth logged over 5400 miles in the sidecar before he was a year old.
Among the many events, some of the biggest we rode to were The Ride for Kids Overland Park KS to raise money for kids with brain tumors with over 300 other bikers. The Davis Rally in New Hampton IA with over 4000 bikes was our farthest trip and a profitable one for Seth as he won $50 in the biking for bucks ride. In October we rode to Arrowhead stadium for the Buddy Walk and met Brian Waters of the Chiefs at the end of the walk. The thing that impressed me the most was there were over 6000 people in the parking lot and everyone was happy. It reaffirmed my believe that Downs children somehow bring out the joy in themselves and others.
One of Seth's last rides of his first year was a trip to Jefferson City the day before the election. Sarah Palin had a rally scheduled at the capitol and we were hoping to see her son Trigg. We were very pleasantly surprised when we were given a VIP pass so Seth could get up close to the action. We ended up right behind the speaker's podium. The crowd was amazing and not only filled the capitol grounds but overflowed to the sidewalks on both sides of the street. When Sarah arrived the crowd went wild. I was holding Seth in one arm and a little red sign that read "TRIGG IS OUR BUDDY TOO" She saw our sign which is the best I was hoping for. During her speech when she mentioned being an advocate for special needs children she turned around and acknowledged us again. We didn't get to see Trigg but her husband Todd was standing off on the side and he also saw our sign. When Sarah finished her speech they started blasting the song "Red Neck Woman" over the loudspeakers because she was wearing blue jeans. While shaking hands with the crowd she made a special effort to get close enough to grab Seth and she turned around and had him wave to the crowd with her. No sooner than she handed Seth back to me Todd arrived and wanted to hold him also. This was one proud Daddy who left the rally that day.
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About a week later I learned KRCG had downloaded Palin's entire speech on their website. It wasn't until watching the video I realized another little quirk of fate. At the exact time when Sarah was holding Seth and waving to the crowd the lyrics of the song came out "with a baby on my hip". In December I mailed some of the pictures of Seth with the Palin's to Alaska with the hopes of getting one of them back with an autograph to put in Seth's memory book. It was almost the end of July when I received an envelope from the governor's office. I noticed the postmark was July 2 the day before she announced her resignation. I tell people I didn't intend to put that much pressure on her. When looking through Sarah's book "Going Rogue" we saw she included a picture from the Jefferson City rally. Over on the right side of the picture directly below the "E" there I was holding my little red sign and Seth with his orange dew rag. He made it in a best seller book.
I look back at the first year of Seth's life in amazement and then I feel sorry for the doctor who probably thought he was doing us a favor by trying to convince us that abortion was a better option. I am thankful and proud to be known as Seth's daddy.
