I need her
It is 2:00 am when the cell phone vibrates under my pillow reminding me to get up. In a swift motion I swing my legs around and glide out of bed, barely moving the covers. My husband sleeps soundly and so does my one-week-old baby, Nichole, who sleeps propped up in...
Just for a day
Just for a day, I wish my daughter with Down syndrome did not struggle with her speech. I know she gets frustrated when we don’t understand her, she tries as hard as she can to enunciate her words right, but sometimes, we still don’t understand what she is...
Siblings and Down Syndrome: So Full of Love
“Mom, sometimes, when I look at Nichole she is so cute that I feel like crying because my heart is so full of love.” There are times I look at my children and I feel like crying because of the intense love I feel for them. It is a love so hard to contain that it...
The First Time My Daughter With Down Syndrome Eloped
“Did somebody here lose a little girl?” I heard the man’s voice calling from the opposite side of the house. I dropped the purple sheets and jumped from the top bunk. Within seconds, I was running past the living room as Cinderella’s fairy godmother sang, “Bibidi...
Down Syndrome and Abortion
They say that a large percentage of women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome have an abortion. But I will not point my finger at the women who have given their babies back to God without ever holding them in their arms. Why? Because I understand. I know...
Ellen Stumbo writes and speaks about finding beauty in brokenness with gritty honesty and openness. She's passionate about sharing the real – sometimes beautiful and sometimes ugly – aspects of faith, parenting, special needs, and adoption. Ellen’s writing has appeared on Focus on the Family, LifeWay, MomSense, Not Alone, Mamapedia and the Huffington Post.