A number of months ago, I was encouraged to begin searching for long-term placement for my 23-year-old son, Yehudah.

It was Marathon Sunday in New York City. The runners were cutting through our neighborhood of Williamsburg, wreaking havoc on traffic conditions. Moishey’s yeshiva van couldn’t get to our housing development for the Sunday morning pickup.

A hundred thousand stars winked at me through the window glass. I closed my eyes and inhaled the unfamiliar smell that permeated the air as of late—the sweet smell of babies. Ahh. 

I walk on the street, And people stare.  I smile and wave, But people don’t care. 

I held my new baby brother closely and kissed him as I remembered the first few weeks of his life.

It is well known by physicians and families that Down syndrome (DS) is associated with the development of autoimmune diseases, particularly thyroid dysfunction, diabetes mellitus and celiac disease. Children with DS regularly undergo screening for these diseases, often in specialized clinics.

Yisrael, my 7-year-old son with DS, was born a healthy, beautiful baby. His nice development excited us every step along the way, promising a bright future! Years later, however, we found ourselves standing in the dark. We couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. Gradually, his development slowed down. What did Yisrael need?

As soon as we settled ourselves into our car 8-year-old Shia’la asked for a snack. It was after a full lunch and he was told he couldn’t have any snack food. He wanted it really badly so he first tried, “I’m so hungry that it’s making my stomach hurt.” When that didn’t work, he resorted to, “My eyes are really hungry!”

Six months ago our family was forever changed by the loss of our beloved brother, Yehuda A”H. Yehuda was in the hospital for just five short weeks, not nearly enough time to say goodbye, to tell him how much we loved him and to process that he was leaving this world for a better place.

Two years ago, when Burech turned twelve, he started talking about his Bar Mitzvah. He has not stopped since. This milestone was going to be celebrated the right way. Burech’s Bar Mitzvah was going to be a gala event.