Below is the letter that my brother-in-law, Matthew Rozell, wrote to Kelly, when he was born. Matt had Kelly pegged before any of us had even fully grasped what it meant for him to have Down Syndrome…to use the oft used phrase of my carpenter friend, “He nailed it!”
Dear Kelly “Unconditional” Thurmond,
Hey bud. Welcome to this crazy world. Thanks for dropping in on us. We’ve been expecting you and we’re glad you made it in one piece. You gave your mom and dad quite a dramatic entrance to show that there is something quite extraordinary about you and people better take notice.
Like all great men and women of the past, sometimes people don’t know what to make of you at first. One of the coolest things about greatness is that you really won’t care. You will see things immediately that they do not. You have an innate understanding of all that really matters in the world. You hold in your hands the key to the mysteries of the universe, and most will rush blindly past you in their quest to attain it. If they took the time to boil down all the messages of every prophet who has ever walked this Earth from any religion, they would see the Truth written all over you. But most people are so unable to see beyond themselves that they miss it entirely.
Yeah, the big boys with their M.D., PH.D.’s say you have a “condition”. Education is not all it’s cracked up to be. What school did Jesus graduate from? The Buddha? Mohammed couldn’t even read and write. The big boys are blind. We are the ones with the “condition”. You will not be a lab rat in this rat race. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, King, Gandhi, Mother Theresa and so on, they all stood for the Truth that you are. The big “G” must love your parents and your brothers a lot to honor them with your presence. We all have a lot to learn from you. Be patient with us-we won’t always see the Truth that constantly radiates from you-we’re a bit slow, you see. Teach us to see what you see always-
“unconditional love”
From your uncle, with gratitude-
The Hermit of Woodchuck Hollow
1/20/2000
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[...] The last 3 of our first 5 children required, emergent and/or life threatening conditions…Kelly who has Down Syndrome, and was born at home. We had had no pre-natal ultrasounds or chromosomal testing, so, needless to say, he was a surprise. Because of his Down Syndrome, we had him checked out at Dartmouth Medical Center, where he was admitted to the NICU, with numerous heart abnormalities. He was sent home 6 days later after much angst, many tears and inumerable prayers, with a clean bill of health. Apparently, Kelly’s heart was taking its time going through its post-natal metamorphosis. Kelly now brings us joy beyond compare. Kelly’s Uncle Matt had Kelly figured out long before any of us did. [...]