THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER SPOILER WARNING!!!! After a few chapters of "normal life" kind of stuff in this book, the author threw in a "below-the-belt" punch. The little girl with Down syndrome got stung by a bee and started to swell up. Her adopted mom sped her to the ER where the nurse looked at the little girl and asked -- seriously -- "Are you SURE you want me to get the doctor?" WHAT????!!!!! I know in my head this is just fiction, but I'm still shaking. How could ANYONE be that horrible? The mom raised her arm to smack the nurse, but her friend stopped her and firmly said, "Get the doctor NOW." I'm wondering if this book is really possible. Back in 1970, did people really treat children with Down syndrome this badly? Not one person that I've come in contact with has even shown a HINT of treating Seth with anything but extreme care, compassion, and RESPECT! Not one person has said, "oh, poor you, you have a retarded child" or anything at all remotely close to pity. In fact, one father was EXCITED for us. His son has Down syndrome, and he was so very happy for us that we were also blessed with this angel child. I guess I'm just glad that I'm living in the 21st century with my precious Seth! After reading that chapter, there was no WAY I was going to get to sleep or sleep in peace, so I held Seth (and laughed my head off with him because he has recently discovered that his voice can make high sounds) for almost an hour to put myself back into the reality of the modern world where my child is loved and accepted.
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I, too, wondered how factual those sorts of things were in the book. I would really hope people weren't that cruel back then. And thank the Lord people are in general pretty considerate and kind.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny - I remember kids being cruel in general when I was a kid. So I've always worried about my kids being treated badly. About six months ago I asked my kids if they had ever been treated a certain way and my son said, "I don't know why you worry about this stuff. People are obviously much nicer than when you were a kid." So I don't worry about it so much anymore - lol.
when I did my clinic rotation through the mental hospital in North Carolina I learned that as sad as it is. Most of what is in the book is true. They didn't understand back then the way we do now. It was a much different time. I'm glad we've moved past that.
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