As most people who know me and lots of my readers know, my son has Down syndrome.  Down syndrome "also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is typically associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual disability, and characteristic facial features" (wikipedia).  So, in essence, he has three 21st chromosomes in all of his cells, hence the selection of 3/21 as a day to drive awareness across the world.

Today my family celebrated by all of us wearing "silly socks".  This came about as an initiative as part of the ''Lots of Socks'' campaign begun by an organisation called Down Syndrome International, to encourage people to start a conversation about diversity, uniqueness, inclusion and acceptance.  Further, a lovely man named John Cronin, who happens to have Down syndrome, founded a company called "John's Crazy Socks" when he was 22, specifically to drive additional awareness and becase he just loves crazy socks.

Here were mine:

My son came home today from school and his friends at school (the 5th graders, he's in 2nd) had a note for him:

I love that we now live in a time and a society where this awareness is at an all time high.  When I was in school, diversity wasn't celebrated, it was hidden.  Differences were not discussed and were rarely seen.  We've matured a lot as a society in the last 30+ years and I couldn't be happier.  

We still have a long way to go though and I hope we all continue to mature.

Thank you for taking time to build your own awareness today.