Good and Perfect Gift, A: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny by Amy Julia Becker

Author:Amy Julia Becker [Becker, Amy Julia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biographies & Memoirs, Leaders & Notable People, Religious, Memoirs, Christian Books & Bibles, Christian Living, Parenting & Relationships, Special Needs, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Inspirational, parents of children with disabilities, Down syndrome, children with mental disabilities, Family, REL012040
ISBN: 0764209175
Amazon: B005LOPNWK
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Published: 2011-09-02T05:00:00+00:00

In June, on the afternoon of our seventh wedding anniversary, Peter and I took Penny into New York City. Months earlier, my aunt, who had trained as a physical therapist in college, had given me a book called Yoga for the Special Child. I coaxed Penny’s body into the poses nearly every day, and I had discovered that the book’s author would be in the city for a training session. The three of us entered a studio with about twenty women sitting cross-legged. Sonia Sumar, the instructor, took Penny from Peter and invited us to sit back and watch.

I could feel the anticipation in my chest, the excuses rising in case Penny didn’t respond the way she was supposed to—It’s nap time . . . She’s never been in the city before . . . She’s only five months old . . . But then Sonia began to chant and breathe rapidly through her nose. Penny giggled. She giggled again, entranced. And soon enough, there was my daughter, happily complying as a stranger manipulated her limbs, turned her torso for a twist, and then laid her on her tummy with arms extended. Then onto her back, and before long Penny’s hips were in the air in a perfect impression of bridge pose. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peter wipe away a tear.

Twenty minutes later, it was over. The three of us crowded the stairwell outside the studio so Penny could nurse.

“I was prepared to be cynical,” Peter said.

I couldn’t contain my smile. “I know.”

He exhaled loudly. “But, man. Just seeing her with Sonia. It was so beautiful.” He kissed Penny on the crown of her head.

I finished nursing and put Penny over my shoulder to rub her back. Just then a woman rounded the corner. Her black curly hair fell past her elbows. She paused to look at Penny. She made faces for a moment and then declared, as if it were a pronouncement, “This child is surrounded by the most glorious light.” And then she walked up the stairs.

A moment later, another woman arrived. She nodded to Peter and me, but then sat down next to Penny and began speaking to her in Italian. After we listened to her lilting phrases for a few minutes, she looked up at us. “You have a beautiful daughter.”

“Thank you,” we murmured.

“But may I ask why you’re here?”

I gestured toward the classroom. “We brought Penny because they’re teaching yoga instructors how to assist kids with disabilities.”

“Does she have disabilities?”

I stroked Penny’s hair. “She has Down syndrome.”

“Ah.” A smile spread across the woman’s face slowly, as imperceptibly as early morning sunlight reaches over the horizon. “I used to teach children with Down syndrome how to swim. What a gift.”

“That’s what everyone says,” Peter replied.

“I will tell you one story. It was a day for Special Olympics competitions. And this wasn’t in the pool. It was outside on the track. The kids were, oh, I don’t know, eight years old. They started running.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.