About a year ago a woman who worked as a one-on-one aide to T. came up to me at the school. She motioned me aside and looked around a little furtively to make sure no one was over hearing. She said, “I have to tell you something and you might think it’s weird.” Just what every parent is dying to hear from a childcare provider.

She said the night before she was having dinner with a friend and all she talked about was T. My husband and I talk about him at dinner almost every night – so far so good. She said she told this friend she had never wanted a child – never really considered it. But, after getting to know T. she started imaging going to Alaska and finding some guy and getting pregnant, hoping she could have a child like T.

Later I wished I had asked, “Why Alaska?” I remember vaguely hearing there are a lot of single men there but maybe it was something else. She looked to be in her early 50’s so if she meant a  kid with Down syndrome she had a better chance statistically of pulling it off.

I don’t know if she necessarily meant a kid with Down syndrome. I do know she was fantasizing about having a kid like we do and it wasn’t weird to me.

We know how lucky we are.