Samira is 5 years old and she was born with Trisomy 21 or Down syndrome. Like most parents who know they are going to deliver a child with Down syndrome I went through ups and downs mostly because I feared for Samiras life. She spent her first 9 days in the hospital in the NICU and had many tubes and wires sticking out from her. Today you would never know that she was the same little girl from 5 years before. She is healthy. She goes to gymnatics once a week and she also attends Music Therapy classes when available. She is strong and as healthy as she can be for a child with her diagnosis. The best part about Samira is that she has touched so many hearts around her. I can not go anywhere that I dont hear people say and tell her how beautiful she is. And her smile and hugs are priceless. Being her mother, Samira has given me the strength I never thought I had and she has helped me be the best advocate that I can be for both her and my community. Samira has touched my life so much that I am now doing things I never thought I would do such as educational advocacy for children who are on an IEP and for those who have Mental Health issues. Before this I came from a quite opposite background in the photography world. The rest of society looks at these children as a tragedy. They really dont know what they are missing. These children will change the world for the better. The only tragedy I know of in this case is those who dont have a full understanding of a person with Down syndrome. If most saw Samira as well as the thousands of others who have Down syndrome, they would surely change their mind about Down sydrome. Wendy Tobin, Malden Down Syndrome Support Group, www.mdssg.com