The Shape of the Eye by George Estreich

A few months back, shortly after Amy Julia Becker's book A Good and Perfect Gift came out, I hijacked my husband's Amazon points (Thanks, honey, you know I love you!), and I bought A Good and Perfect Gift, The Year My Son and I Were Born, and The Shape of the Eye.  Of course, I started with the shortest book, A Good and Perfect Gift.  I breezed through it in a couple days, and then I was on to The Year My Son and I Were Born and finished that one in a few days.  Mind you, I'm not much of a reader, but there were things that touched me so deeply in these books, because I lived it.  There were differences, but their words tapped into a part of me that not many people know and for a little, I felt like someone got me.  Someone I didn't know, had never met, and probably never would, but I could have spoken some of the very same words. They were emotional, sentimental, and honest.

When I was finished, I picked up The Shape of the Eye.  I probably should have waited, since I had been pretty much spending every spare minute reading up to that point.  I started reading one night.  At the time, I remembered feeling like the reading was harder, confusing.  I read a little and decided I didn't like it.  I considered getting rid of it, doing a give-away on the blog.  But what would I say?  I haven't read this whole book, but I don't like it, so who wants it!  No, that won't work.  So I put it away.  Now, I realize that I was just sick of reading, and I wasn't in a place of sitting and focusing on anything. 

A couple of months later, I decided to try again, and I started reading.  This time, I was focused and interested.  It didn't take long before I was hooked.  I couldn't put it down.  I read after the kids went to bed, at the playground while they ran around, in the car.  George Estreich has a way of portraying the facts with nuggets of his perspective along the way.  His writing is less emotional and sentimental than the other books I read, but it was equally powerful.  I was glued to every word when he recounted his daughter's open heart surgery and recovery.  He has a way of delivering the facts, but making it personal at the same time by recounting his thoughts.

One of the aspects of the book that I love is his description of Dr. John Langdon Haydon Down, who Down syndrome is named after, because he first recognized its characteristics many years ago.  At that time, people with Down syndrome were referred to as "mongoloid idiots".  One of my favorite parts of that section was finding out that Dr. Down's own grandson had Down syndrome! 

He also went into a chapter about genetic engineering, and while some of it was over my elementary school teacher mind, I did find it interesting.  With early genetic testing and increasing technology, our society is coming to a place where genetic engineering is a reality.  Anyone who reads this blog knows where I stand on matters of life, it's value, and it's Creator. 

Late in the book, Estreich described a hope that I have everyday, when he wrote, "I think more people will come to share this perspective:  that the diagnosis will be a footnote to individuality, and not the other way around...................that [she] will live in a world where she seems as ordinary to others as she does to us."

I related to his story, because he portrayed his journey of thought and emotion so vividly.  It didn't happen in one day or overnight.  Over time, he found clarity, and I feel like that is the same thing I am doing. 

I have some other thoughts and quotes to share, but I thought that was good for one post.  If you read the book, what did you think?