Laura

Hello. My name is Laura and I am a 33 year old mom of one son, named Sam, who is 16 years old and happens to have Down Syndrome. We live in Everett, Washington. I was a single mom for many, many, years, and now I am coming up on my one year wedding anniversary with my husband, Russ. I am still learning
to adjust to married life. We’ve been together for about 3 ½ years total. Russ has a very loving heart and he accepts Sam unconditionally. That’s not easy to find and I wouldn’t accept any less. I was perfectly content and actually expected to be single for the rest of my life, so this new chapter has been an unexpected bonus. Life is funny. Just when you think everything is going a certain way something (or someone special) comes along to shake things up.

I’ve really been mulling over what I would like people to gain from my year of pictures and I think what I’d like people to realize is that having a kid with DS is not a big deal. I remember that everything seemed so tragic and overwhelming right after Sam was born, and I didn’t know what to do or how to cope. I was a single mom, I was 17, and I was scared. So I did the only thing I could do. I took it step by step and day by day. Over the years everything just fell into place. It has been the most amazing 16 years I ever could’ve wished for. I always tell people that I won the kid lottery, because I totally hit the jackpot with Sam. I also want people to know that Sam is a person, not a “syndrome.” He’s a regular guy but with a few differences. Sometimes I cannot believe how blessed we are. Being Sam’s mom is the one thing in my life that I am most proud of. You will see tons of pictures of my Sam (the ham).

I also have a wonderful, supportive group of family and friends, without whom I never would’ve made it this far. They should be showing up in my photos too. My mom, the miracle woman, gave us a quite a scare a few years ago and I thought we were going to lose her to cancer. The doctors gave her only a few weeks to live (that was over five years ago). If she lets me take her picture (she hates that) she’ll show up here too. She is one of my best friends.

Additional info.:
I am a college graduate with a BA in Prelaw and I work full time as a paralegal at a small local law office. I really enjoy my job. Then, in my off hours, I juggle Sam’s five thousand sports activities and social functions. I could seriously go on for pages about all of the wonderful activities he’s involved in, and how awesome his high school is, but I’ll spare you. There are so many fantastic opportunities for him in
the area where we live that I refuse to ever move. So, being a sports
mom keeps me pretty busy too.


Other than that, I watch way too much television, I work out regularly, and I am coming up on my 3 year anniversary as a vegetarian. I figured I’d give it a go to try and beat some genetic time bombs that are ticking away in my family tree (obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol, adult onset diabetes, cancer…etc.). So far I’m winning.

I am interested to see what comes up in my year of pictures, and I am also excited to see everyone else’s year unfold. So here I go…