Christina’s Story
A day in the life of two young adults.
A typical day in the life of my daughter,Christina, begins when she awakens to an alarm, gets ready for work, grabs her cell phone and backpack, and hurries off to catch the bus to her part time job. After work, she heads home, mindful of her commitment to go to exercise class or to have coffee with a friend. When she gets home she tumbles into the hubbub of the household’s day to day life, secure in the knowledge that she’s where she belongs. She’s also looking forward to a vacation she’s going on with her housemates.
Contrasts this to a typical day in the life of several other young adults I know still living at home – which I describe here in the context of a single person. Her day starts when her mom wakes her up, although she’d rather stay in bed, so she turns on the TV and plunks down in front of it. Mom pesters her to have breakfast and hovers around, asking what the plan is for that day. She says she just wants to stay home by herself. She might walk over to the mall or she could take a bus somewhere, but really, there’s no place to go.
These young people – Christina and the others I have described – all have DownSyndrome. They grew up in loving families that advocated for inclusion in school and in the community, they attended special education college programs, and they learned to travel independently on the bus and can read. They have many gifts, abilities, strengths and weaknesses.
What makes these two “typical days” very different is that Christina lives at L’Arche.
Christina has been a member of L’Arche Greater Vancouver community for more than 20 years. She lives a very full life where her gifts are valued, her talents are nurtured and her shortcomings are accepted. She is challenged to accept responsibility and to take risks and her opinions and ideas are important. She has a wide circle of friends and acquaintances and a social life that is independent of her family.
Without L’Arche, Christina’s experience would have been quite different. I will be forever grateful that L’Arche and all it stands for came into our lives.
~ Diane, Mother and an advocate for L’Arche