Gracie
Waking to find that we are kings and queens"
- Kings And Queens, by Brooke Fraser
Gracie has long brown hair and bright eyes. At church, nearly everyone knows her name, knows her laugh, and expects to see the wheels of her wheelchair decorated with large, colorful paper circles.
Gracie was born with Down Syndrome and diagnosed with Leukemia at age 2. Complications from many rounds of chemotherapy which were battling the highly aggressive cancer left her brain very damaged. She is unable to speak or walk or feed herself, though she can communicate through expressions and grunts and her glowing smile. Her daily life is totally dependent on other people. Yet the fact that she survived at all was a miracle.
A few years ago, when Gracie was attending Georgetown High School, a campaign started to nominate Gracie for Homecoming Queen. The idea of a few students took off; on the night of Homecoming, Gracie wore a sparkling dress with pink tights and was wheeled onto the football field by her father to wait with the other nominees. When the name of the Queen was announced, everyone in the auditorium began to clap and cheer. A photographer friend of mine gorgeously captured the event: the shock and wild delight, the sheer joy of the moment, was written all over Gracie's face. No words of surprise or thanks were needed.
Gracie was crowned the Queen, and a moment later, the King was also crowned: Jared, a fellow student who also had Down Syndrome. Jared stood beside Gracie in her wheelchair, the King and Queen smiling and smiling as the rest of the school cheered.
Because of Gracie, her parents founded Brookwood in Georgetown (BIG), a place where adults with disabilities can find purpose through community and learning life-skills. They bake, create pieces of pottery and greeting cards, and grow sunflowers. They are told that they are valued. That they have something to contribute to the world.
As children, most of us pretended to be princesses and knights, inspired beings from fairy tales. We were told by encouraging adults that we were beautiful and brave. But what about those who grew up with other children looking sideways at them, asking their parents why that child had almond eyes and just seemed ... different? How wonderful, then, that those children can grow up to be kings and queens. Just for a night, perhaps, yet captured forever in photographs and the sound of cheering. Our beautiful and brave kings and queens.
Brookwood (BIG): http://www.brookwoodingeorgetown.org/
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