The chapters in Gifts are each personal essays written by a different mom. They are organized under the broader categories: The Gift of Respect, The Gift of Strength, The Gift of Delight, The Gift of Perspective, and The Gift of Love. How were these categories chosen, and how were essays selected for each category?

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Jennifer Graf Groneberg

I picked those categories because they were five things Thomas had effortlessly increased in my life. From what I could tell on the DS boards, other parents were having similar experiences. I also wanted to be careful not to focus only on love, although I think this is the most important gift any of us can receive. I put that section last, for emphasis. But I wanted people to think beyond the usual "downs kids are so loving" stereotype.

Many of the essays that came in had a theme that made them perfect fits for one of the categories. Others got tweaked during the editing process to emphasize certain aspects of the story, thus making it fit better into a category. I was amazed at the balance--I didn't have to do much tweaking to get an equal number of stories for each category. Of course, many of the stories could fit into more than one category. But still, I was delighted with how it all turned out.

For the second book I've picked 5 new categories, similar yet slightly different than the first 5. Same story there--these are things Thomas has brought into my life, and I trust the same is true for many others.

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Kathryn Lynard Soper
Mother of Thomas (DS) 10/2005
Sam - 2003
Matt - 2001
Christine - 1999
Andrew - 1997
Ben - 1994
Elizabeth - 1993

Author of The Year My Son and I Were Born: A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self-Discovery



Editor of GIFTS and GIFTS 2