Deborah Woehr

Today was my day off and the boys’ first day of summer vacation. They got to sleep in, but my internal clock woke me up at 5:30am, of all hours. During the week, I struggle to wake up at 6. Go figure.

I sat at my computer, thinking of all the things I need to do before we go on our annual trip, the Adobe training I’m still working on, the blog posts I had yet to write, and ideas for my latest WIP. All this kept spinning through my mind as my oldest kept talking to me about Macs. He’s been obsessed with getting one since before Christmas and still won’t stop talking about Leopard and what he would do if we were to buy him a Mac.

I’m sitting here this morning, listening patiently and nodding my head and uttering a few short responses. At the same time, I’m thinking, ‘He’s going to drive me crazy if I don’t get him out of the house.’

So I took him and his brother to Chevy’s, with the promise that I was going to drag them to the bookstore. They didn’t complain too much on the way into the restaurant. On the way out, my youngest chimes, “Can I get a CD, Mom?”

What do you expect from teenagers?

I told them that we were going to look at books first. My oldest has required summer reading, and my youngest needs something to do. We left with books, movies, and a CD. It was an expensive day, but it was fun (at least for me).

Over the past month, I’ve been researching Down Syndrome for a new character I’ve created. I’ve watched several YouTube videos, including snippets of the once-popular TV show, Life Goes On. I had this set to rent on my Netflix account, but when I saw the first season sitting inside Barnes&Noble, I couldn’t resist. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the first DVD and remembering why I enjoyed this show so much.

I was in my early twenties and newly married when this show debuted on television. I don’t remember it touching me nearly as much then as it did today, as a mother of two boys. My eyes teared several times while watching the last show on the first DVD, where Corky deals head-on with the limitations that Down Syndrome has placed on him. Will I ever be able to drive a car? Will I ever get married? Will I ever have children? Things that we all take for granted.

I’m learning more about this syndrome and how it affects the families involved. My new character keeps speaking to me. His name is Zach, and he has some pretty heavy secrets.