UPDATED: Josh is coming home! Join the celebration by supporting his team in the Down Syndrome Association’s Buddy Walk!
By Ken Falkenstein | Thursday, September 1st, 2011 | Virginia
As many of you know, in April of this year we welcomed twin baby boys, Josh and Dylan, into our family. They were born premature, and Josh has Down Syndrome. Dylan made it home fairly quickly, but Josh has remained in the hospital since he was born.
In the nearly five months since Josh was born, he endured 3 1/2 months on a ventilator, heart surgery, six surgical scopes of his airway, sepsis, pneumonia, and a broken arm. You can read my more detailed accounts of some Josh’s ordeals here, here, and here. (Dealing with these issues is the main reason that I haven’t posted much here at Bearing Drift in recent weeks.)
The good news is that Josh has toughed out those challenges, and he will be coming home next Monday!
The Bearing Drift community – contributors and readers across the political spectrum – have been wonderfully supportive of Josh and our entire family throughout this ordeal. I’m coming to you now to ask you to join in our celebration of Josh’s homecoming by helping us to support a wonderful organization that will benefit Josh for his entire life and help him to realize his full potential.
Our family and friends have formed a team to participate in this year’s Down Syndrome Association of Hampton Roads Buddy Walk on October 1st. Our team is called Baby Josh’s Mended Hearts Club Band, and our goal is to raise more funds for this wonderful organization than any other team!
These funds will benefit Josh specifically: All funds raised in the Buddy Walk will stay with the Hampton Roads organization to benefit people with Down Syndrome in our area, including Josh.
We are trying to raise at least $1,000! Please go to the Baby Josh’s Mended Hearts Club Band Buddy Walk fundraising website and donate $100, $50, $25, $10, or whatever you can afford to support Josh and the Down Syndrome Association of Hampton Roads. Donating through this website is simple, fast and secure, and your donation will be credited to Josh’s team.
I know that asking for charitable donations is not normal fare for contributors at Bearing Drift, but after nearly five months of watching our son endure one medical crisis after another, I hope you will forgive this indulgence and join the celebration of his homecoming with whatever contribution you can make to support Josh’s team in the Buddy Walk.
Thank you for your support – and don’t forget to share this with anyone who you think might want to donate too!
UPDATE: Thanks to the generosity and kindness of so many friends, we are now the #2 fundraising team for this event! Please help us become #1 by going to our team website and make a donation of $100, $50, $25, $10, or whatever you can give to support this wonderful organization!
UPDATE: It’s going to take a few days longer than we thought for Josh to get home due to red tape. He won’t be coming home Monday but could be home by next Friday.
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About the author
Ken Falkenstein has been a staffer in the United States Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates. He has managed political campaigns. He was a military intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army in West Germany during the Cold War. He is currently a civil litigation attorney with Poole Mahoney, P.C. in Virginia Beach. But his concern for his kids' future is what most informs his writing.
We're 75% there! Thank you to everyone who has so far contributed! Just $2000 to go!
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8 Responses to "UPDATED: Josh is coming home! Join the celebration by supporting his team in the Down Syndrome Association’s Buddy Walk!"
Congrats Ken! Answered Prayer indeed!
Ken,
All our best to you and your family from your friends at BD. We completely support you and appreciate your efforts here on BD – thank you for being part of our family.
Ken, All our best to you and Josh! Our daughter, Anna Quinn, has Down Syndrome and is in the third grade. Best wishes for your Buddy Walk. We’ve always wanted to attend the Dare County one down at the Outer Banks. Josh will always be a blessing to you and all whom he meets. Anna’s greatest gift to others is teaching people to live in the “right now.” Call or write if we can ever help or if you need someone to share with. Incidentally, Anna’s school was one of those rendered unusable by the earthquake here in Louisa. A teacher carried her in her arms from the most damaged part of the building. We still haven’t told Anna she won’t be going back to the school she’s been attending since she was 2 1/2.
I was so joyful at seeing this news for Josh and his family that I could not hold back the tears. The Lord is so wonderful in His love to you Ken and your wife and family.
Welcome home, Josh! So many prayers are answered! Your brother, Dylan, must be anxiously awaiting your arrival. Blessings on you all!
Be Well little guy. Welcome home.
Congratulations on your new little ones! Josh is adorable! We were surprised to learn on Dec 15 that our little boy, Noah had Down syndrome. My wife is a medical doctor so she was very aware with Down syndrome, however I was not. Fast forward to today, this has been the greatest journey we have ever been on. The people we have connected with have been amazing. In fact we even have a website (http://noahsdad.com) where we do a daily one minute video about our family to show the world that Down syndrome is ok!
I look forward to connecting with you guys. By the way, my wife has put together a great resource that may be helpful to you. —> http://noahsdad.com/new-parent-guide
I just prayed for Josh (and your family) I”m thankful for how God has created him!
Way to go, Josh!!!! Welcome home!
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