March 21st....a day I never paid any attention to.

March 21st. The 81st day of the year (this year!). Often the first day of spring, and sometimes falls during spring break. Honestly, that's about all I could tell you about March 21st before this year. Here's a few other notable things about March 21st:

• It's Human Rights Day in South Africa
• It's World Poetry Day
• It's Rosie O'Donnell and Matthew Broderick's birthday
• In 1980 – On the season finale of the soap opera, "Dallas", the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the catchphrase, "Who Shot J.R.?"
• In 1965 – Martin Luther King, Jr. leads 3,200 people on the start of the third and finally successful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

It's World Down Syndrome Day.

Until this year, I didn't pay any attention to things like World Down Syndrome Day. But, now I find myself slowly becoming a part of a wonderful network of people, all united by an extra chromosome. (Which by the way explains the significance of March 21st....for those unaware, Down Syndrome is Trisomy 21. Each of us is born with 46 chromosomes - 2 copies of each one, but for people born with Down syndrome, chromosome #21 is a little bit of an overachiever...and has 3 copies! Hence Trisomy 21, or 3/21 or March 21st!) Through the wonders of blogging and facebook, (are we friends? Be sure to "friend me" on facebook!) Our girls will be joining not only a wonderful family and group of friends - but they will be gaining friends and "family" all over the world. Families who have children with Down syndrome (some biological, some adopted, some both!), amazing people who advocate for children with Down syndrome and other special needs, and so many more!!

If you're my friend on facebook - you will have seen my post yesterday, about taking the next 21 (now 20) days to share stories of how you can help - how you can support families who are adopting children with Down syndrome, like us, some of my favorite families and blogs, and ways you can get involved! We are joining an amazing community of folks and I want all of you to get to know these fabulous people as well!! :)

I probably won't post daily on the blog about each of these, but I'll try. So be sure to check me out on facebook too, so you don't miss out on meeting any of these wonderful folks!!