These were the words that changed my life

I was recovering in my hospital room in Manhattan a few days after giving birth to our third child, and my biggest concern was how to keep our newborn warm in the taxi on the way home during that typically gray and bitter New York winter. Gavin and I had already sent photos of our new baby girl to friends and family informing them that mother and baby were doing well.

Congratulatory flowers and balloons provided a colorful contrast to the gray skies beyond our window. We were generally feeling on top of the world as couples normally do after having a new baby.

Until the pediatrician walked in on the third day.

“Mrs. Samuels, did you do genetic testing?” he asked as he strode into the room.

These were the few words that changed my life!

As we checked out of the hospital and the security guard snipped the identification bracelets from our wrists, Gavin looked at me and said, “They may as well have branded the word ‘Activist’ on our fore- heads because that is what we have just become.”

We knew, as we headed into the world, that our future would be one of tireless advocacy, struggles for acceptance and crusading for our child’s rights on a daily basis, whether in schools, government or social settings.

Little did we know....

Chutzpah Wisdom and Wine - the journey of an unstoppable woman