Cree’s Story

As told by his mother

When Cree was eight months old, he had open heart surgery.

Everything I thought I knew about our life shifted. Days blurred together in the hospital. There were charts and explanations and so many decisions that didn’t feel like choices at all.

Not long after, we learned Cree has Down syndrome and Hirschsprung’s Disease, and suddenly nothing about parenting felt “normal” anymore.

Someone was always packing a bag for the hospital, or staying home with the other kids, or figuring out whether it was worth trying to go at all. I didn’t realize how much we had pulled inward until one day I looked around and saw how small our world had become.

Finding A Kid Again felt right.

Cree was welcomed in a way that didn’t require context. His siblings were excited in a way I hadn’t seen in a long time. And for once, we weren’t splitting up to make things work… we were all there, together.

I remember watching Cree take everything in, at his own pace, and realizing how rare it is for him to be in a space that doesn’t ask him to be different. I remember laughing without checking the time. I remember thinking, quietly, that this is what we’ve been missing.

A Kid Again doesn’t erase the hard parts of our life. But it gives us memories to look back on during those difficult moments. It gives Cree the chance to experience joy without conditions, and it gives our family moments that feel so full.