Wil chose not to wear green today. Just because he was told to. I wouldn’t be surprised to find him dressed in green tomorrow; because it would be his choice. Wil did follow the color code on Valentine’s Day. He had been coveting Elizabeth’s neon pink shirt and she let him borrow it for the occasion. And, Wil is all about the love ❤
During Spirit Week at school he makes up his own mind to play or not to play. If it’s wear black day, he may purposely avoid black — or go all in with hat, shirt, undies, pants, socks and shoes in black. If one of those pieces — even the undergarments — is not black, he may abandon the whole outfit even if we have minutes to leave for school. However the last time the school had Dutch Day, he spent careful time the night before selecting which Dutch shirt, which Dutch hat, and what pants and socks would go with.
On World Down Syndrome Day 3/21 (representing 3 copies of the 21st chromosome), ironically he has refused to wear his crazy socks on certain years. And believe me, he has a drawerful to choose from. He’ll wear his snowflake socks in July if they match his shorts. He wears his blue star socks whenever singing the Star Spangled Banner in choir. He has socks that look like a fish is swallowing your leg, which he said he’ll wear this 3/21, but I won’t know for sure until seconds before we leave for school if that choice will stand.
Wil could care less that you are wearing crazy socks on a certain day of the year. He’d get more joy out of your socks if you wore snowflakes in July!
Wil loves the Buddy Walk because it’s a big celebration of people in-person, coming together to enjoy a great day outdoors. Wil’s not out to make a calendar or societal-driven statement. Wil’s about making friends and living life fully his way.
Let’s celebrate Friendship over counting chromosomes. Let’s celebrate who we are behind the date on the calendar and behind the clothing. Let’s celebrate how different we are, and how different we aren’t. No matter what you wear, or what day you wear it, Wil will love you anyway, every single day of the year.
Stories of Wil, my son, who has Down syndrome 