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Email a FriendMy sixth child had trisomy 13, with characteristics like trisomy 21, but fatal. He was only in this world for two hours. I was told by professionals, a number of times in pregnancy, to abort for the sake of my other five kids at the time, even that I was being selfish. Knowing that was a lie, I persevered and gave my son every chance to live and die on his own and in God’s time, not mine. The result was a witness to so many doctors and nurses at my bedside while Sean was in this world. All of them teary-eyed and stating their thanks for letting them be a part of something they never get to see. I was told “we never get to see this part, its beautiful, usually the babies don’t make it to birth because they’ve been aborted”. I have no regrets and am thankful for the blessing of Sean. My children were strengthened in their faith as well.
Can We Talk About Sarah Palin?
Posted by Danielle Bean in News on Thursday, December 03, 2009 10:00 AM
Hey, remember Sarah Palin? Perhaps you’ve heard a thing or two about her over the past month or so since the release of her new book, Going Rogue: An American Life
Or perhaps, like me, you’ve felt positively deluged by the media’s recent renewed obsession with the former Alaskan governor and republican candidate for vice president?
I’ve tuned out much of the media coverage as so much of it seemed unfairly harsh in its judgment of Mrs. Palin and its treatment of her book.
In all of the media heyday, though, two pieces stood out to me.
The first was Brian Caulfield’s recent review of Going Rogue
Without getting personal or political, Caulfield very fairly assesses the book for what it is. I especially appreciated his highlighting of several parts of the book that would be of particular interest to Catholics—an enlightening list if these appears at the end of the column.
The second media piece that caught my attention was written by Sarah Palin herself—an excerpt of her book that was published at Times Online.
In the excerpt, Palin describes her pregnancy with Trig and how her life has changed since becoming the mom of a child with Down syndrome.
I am struck by the plainness of her language and the genuine love for her son and her family that shines through her words. You can’t fake that.
I see photos of Trig and can recognise the physical traits that let all Down’s children look like brothers and sisters, the characteristics that may puzzle some who, just like me a few months prior, don’t yet understand. But looking at these children in real life, we see only perfection.
All politics aside, I just plain like a mom who talks like a mom, who is unafraid to admit her hesitations and dependence on God, and in the end lets love shine through.
Trig is a lucky boy. And he has a lucky mom.
Comments
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We had a mom in our homeschool group who gave birth to a trisomy 13 baby. Everyone provided meals and support and when the little died a few weeks after birth the funeral was a celebration of her life. It was beautiful. I wish people could see that even in great sadness there can be great blessing.
Thank you so much Kathy for sharing. It is beautiful, witnesses like you and your family, who choose life heroically that this world needs and what moved us to start our ministry, one we are so blessed to be a part of, especially to ba able to share these stories with others and open hearts.
God bless you and your family.
Just saw your site Janelle. Thanks. It’s not like there’s a club for people like us. Nobody wants to talk about death, especially of a baby. I get to see Sean in every trisomy child I encounter, and I smile.
Not sure where to put this comment but there is a place to go. A woman from our parish had a son with Trisomy 13 almost 5 years ago, he is still alive and doing very well. The group she started is called http://www.prenatalpartnersforlife.org and exists to match families who receive an adverse medical diagnosis with a family who has already been down that path. Some children do die soon after birth or during pregnancy. Others continue to live for years like her little boy.
Thanks so much to realmomforlife. I went to their site to become involved. I think one of the blessings from such a tragedy is the ability to help others through experience. It helps in healing for both parties.
Just a bit more searching :>) and I found it here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6926726.ece
I’ll admit it - I cried. What a wonderful pro-life example she is!
Loved the last line in her article, the bumper sticker that read “My kid has more chromosomes than your kid”, helped to laugh through the tears that had come down during the article. Good stuff!
Okay, I have to weigh in, though I doubt my opinion will be very popular! Though I admire Palin for her pro-life stance, I can’t help but feel that she has set back the cause of pro-life women in politics. I didn’t see any evidence from her that she was ready for the national political stage. When we get a strong pro-life female candidate out there, I want her to be a woman with lots of experience and qualifications who can really hit it out of the park.
I also can’t quite rid myself of the sneaking suspicion that—pro-life issues aside—a lot of her popular appeal lies in her attractiveness. If she were a frumpy overweight woman, would anyone give her the time of day?
Cathy & Susan:
I think you are actually judging her because she is pretty! God is free to use beautiful people too!! I pray that she will confound the wise. I think she is very smart but I never expect anyone to be perfect. NONE of our presidents have been perfect. She is a mother which is a job in itself and then also a politician, which is not easy either. You will never find someone that says all the right things all of the time. But Sarah is awesome because she stands for life and freedom, which is SO RARE to see these days!
Hi Gwen,
I don’t have a problem with politicians being pretty ... but I expect them to be qualified first! I personally don’t see Palin as qualified to hold national office. I know that’s a matter of opinion, and I don’t want to start a big political argument, but that’s my assessment. We can agree to disagree! Peace and good.
I have to agree with Cathy and also say that I just get this gut feeling that Sarah Palin isn’t genuine always. I can’t get past the former beauty queen in the answers she gives….and I’m not talking about the Katie Couric interview…just the things she says and the way she answers…just too scripted for me…always the same, never in depth..it throws up a red flag for me and did from the beginning.
I agree… I grew up in Wasilla during the time she was mayor and this is the impression. I was unimpressed with her as governor, (I didn’t vote for her, even though I’m conservative) and again did not vote for her ticket on the national level - something about her total package doesn’t make sense.
(For the record, I grew up in her hometown, attended the same high school, lived in that town for 22 years, resident of Alaska for 27)
As much as I like Sarah Palin, I’m saddened that she quit her job as governor of Alaska midway through her term. I think it signifies that she is somewhat opportunistic and shallow minded. I don’t understand why she couldn’t just finish up what she started, and have some real experience under her belt. Margaret Thatcher was involved in politics for years before she became PM. I hate to think that her critics were right, that she is a light weight, but her recent actions give me pause.
I am an Alaskan ( moved here 14 years ago from MA ) and our governor was an excellent leader. Remember, a state administration has exactly the same departments to manage as the nation, on a smaller scale. This is experience that even a senator does not have. Danielle did say, “politics aside”, so I’ll stop that ! She states repeatedly in her book that motherhood makes her better, smarter, stronger, keeps her grounded. The BEST example was that right before the RNC speech, she needed to change Trig’s diaper ( hee hee ). Nothing like a messy diaper to keep one grounded, eh? ! You know how all us mothers sit around with our hot drinks and wonder how come the politicians are so ( insert negative word ) and we know just what would work ? Well, there she is. Motherhood DOES make us smarter ; go Sarah !
Wait, Jennifer, no, no, no ! She did not leave due to shallow-mindedness or opportunism ; she left because she could no longer be a public servant, which too many politicians forget is what the job is all about ; it’s what motherhood is all about, as well. Our state has a fair information law, which allows anyone to “file an ethics charge” that the state must investigate and disclose all pertinent information, passed to end back door bribery and back-scratching. After the campaign, rabid leftists filed dozens of truly ridiculous charges that they HAD to address that cost us millions of dollars. Every one was tossed out, too. She could no longer effictively lead with the constant charges’ extra work. Please read her words and explanations ( not the tired old media ) ! A very excitable, Allison : )
As someone who is politically active and has tossed around the idea of making politics a career, I must admit that what the media has done to the Palin family is enough to make any good mother really take pause before throwing her hat into the ring! I feel so badly for the amount of harassment and negative attention focused on their family life. There was a time when the home and the family were sacred ground. You did not trod upon and speculate about possible scandal or disfunction at home. The example that has been made of her will surely make other pro-life, mother, politicians hesitant to become the next Saturday Night Live skit. It’s a sad reality that they will go after our children to silence our unpopular voices.
Sarah Palin is awesome! She has the media so scared of her they don’t what to do with themselves. Remember that she called the part in the health care bill, “death panels”, and everyone in the media and the liberals scoffed but it turned out she was right and they removed the wording ASAP.
Sarah Palin loves our country and has rallied the pro-life cause in America. God bless her!
Just a couple of things to add…as for her political skills, I didn’t think she was as qualified on the national level as I’d like, plus I felt McCain had some problems also, but looking at the alternative (who wasn’t as qualified as Palin on her own-but won), I raced to the polls to vote for them. Unless they elect someone like Fr. Corapi, I’ll never be completely satisfied with my candidate-that’s part of the nature of elections. Secondly, on her beauty, it is refreshing for a political candidate to embrace her femininity. So often, these women often look like they really want to appear like the men, as if we’re all the same. They look the part, and it has to be intentional, they all have reasons for the look they’ve chosen too, for their voters.
I have to say, I was so excited about SArah Palin for so long—but as a former journalist, my admiration is just gone.
She has been caught in mistruths and half-truths by reputable reporters throughout Going Rogue. In fact, I’ve caught a few by viewing archival footage of debates. In the book she says she said one thing during that very debate, in the recorded debate, she says another.
YouTube her televised debate when running for govenor of Alaska—and then read the passage she describes about that very debate in Going Rogue. Sigh…
I still greatly admire her pro-life stance and her mothering, but I can’t trust anything she says about her political life. And it breaks my heart.
Yes, Cin,
I’d like to know a few more specifics, too. I’m a bit concerned that we might be diving into the “political” side of things, and I know Danielle said in her original post “all politics aside”...but I am interested in what you are talking about with your background and the way it has played out regarding Sarah Palin’s career. Also, I’d like to know who the “reputable reporters” are, as so many of them seem bent on ruining her life!
Here is an example of one of the discrepancies I guess. AP assigned 11 fact checkers on Palin’s book. (wonder how many they put on Clinton’s or Obama’s?)
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTE2YmEyMDZkM2Y3NjAzYWZjOTRmYjExZDg4MGE0NzE=
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