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The Pieces Of Me
by: Michelle & Ciarra
Mom said, ?There are lots of things that make people special. Some of them are on the inside of their bodies where they can?t be seen. And there are some things that are on the outside that are special too. Everyone is special, in his own way.?
?There are many kinds of special. Some of us have special talents like painting, singing, dancing, or sports. Some of us have special needs that mean we need help with our bodies, like hearing aids, glasses, or wheel chairs. And some special needs are inside a body, like needing extra help with math or reading. Because our bodies are made differently we each have something special.?
My friend Jade is really funny. I love to go to her house and play. We dance, and sing songs, and watch movies. Jade has to wear hearing aids because her ears don?t work very well without them. I asked Mom if that was what made Jade special.
Mom said that it is like her wearing glasses, her eyes don?t work very well without them. The glasses are a way for her to see. But they are just a small part of her, not the best part, and not the worst part.
My brother Jesse is really good at football. He is teaching me how to throw one. I asked Mom if that was what made him special. She said football was one of Jesse?s special abilities, but it wasn?t the only thing that made him special, just a tiny part. 
I asked Mom what was so special about me, and she told me there were lots of things. How I laugh. How I like silly jokes. How I give her the best hugs. 
And then she told me there were other things that made me special in different ways. She said that when I was a brand new baby, inside her tummy, I had something extra special right from the start! 
She said babies are made up of lots of little pieces of stuff called cells. Cells get together like puzzle pieces and make up our bodies. They make our skin, and our eyes and our bones. In the center of each cell is an area called the nucleus. In the middle of the nucleus are a bunch of things called chromosomes. They tell our bodies what color to make our eyes, how tall we will be, even how much hair to grow. 
Most kids get 23 chromosomes from their Mom, and 23 from their Dad. But sometimes, a kid gets an extra #21 Chromosome. That means they get something called Trisomy 21, or Down syndrome. 
Down syndrome doesn?t mean anything is down, it is just the name of the doctor who first noticed some extra special babies being born. Like me!
Mom said when I was being made, my body got an extra chromosome, too! She called it ?enhanced?. I asked her what that means, if it is on the inside or the outside. She said a little of both. I was confused?
Mom told me that Down syndrome means there are some things about my body that are a little bit different than some other kids. I asked her if she meant like Jade?s ears, and she said ?YES!?
Down syndrome means my eyes have special little dots around the colored parts, they are called brushfield?s spots. Mommy says they look like stars. I looked at them, and they do kind of look like stars!!
She said sometimes kids who are born with Down syndrome have a line across their hands which goes all the way from one end to the other. I looked, and I don?t have that line. Mom told me that some of my friends have that line. I asked her if that meant they have Down syndrome, too? She said yes!
Mom says that Down syndrome has made her slow down and really enjoy everything I do. she says having to work hard to learn things makes us appreciate them more. She says she loves everything about me, and that Down syndrome is just a tiny part of me. 
I am special for lots of reasons, and so are you!
?2005 Michelle Harmon This book is copywrited.