Paul and Kelly Daugherty believed they were up against an unsurmountable challenge. On October 17, 1989, their daughter Jillian was born with Down syndrome.
However, instead of letting the fear and anxiety overwhelm their path as parents, they made the choice to fulfill "the job of building the better Jillian."
As Jillian grew up, their worries subsided. Though it was a struggle (as it would be for any kid) Jillian was accepted by her peers, teachers and community. Nevertheless, Paul did have one fear for his daughter.
Would she find love? It is with that worry, that on Jillian's wedding day, as he watched her primping herself with glee, that he wrote her this touching letter.
Like longtime couple Austin and Jessica, both of whom were born with Down syndrome, Jillian faced difficulties in her life — but what's even more important is that she (just like Austin and Jessica) managed to overcome them.
"Do you remember all the stuff they said you’d never do, Jills?" Paul writes. "You wouldn’t ride a two-wheeler or play sports. You wouldn’t go to college. You certainly wouldn’t get married. Now… look at you."
Read the moving letter below and try not to hold back the tears.
h/t: The Mighty
"I don’t know what the odds are of a woman born with Down syndrome marrying the love of her life. I only know you’ve beaten them."
"When you were born and for years afterward, I didn’t worry for what you’d achieve academically. Your mom and I would make that happen. We’d wield the law like a cudgel if we had to. We could make teachers teach you, and we knew you’d earn the respect of your peers."
"What we couldn’t do was make other kids like you. Accept you, befriend you, stand with you in the vital social arena. We thought, What’s a kid’s life, if it isn’t filled with sleepovers and birthday parties and dates to the prom?
I worried about you then. I cried deep inside on the night when you were 12 and you came downstairs to declare, “I don’t have any friends.’’
"We all wish the same things for our children. Health, happiness and a keen ability to engage and enjoy the world are not only the province of typical kids. Their pursuit is every child’s birthright. I worried about your pursuit, Jillian.
I shouldn’t have. You’re a natural when it comes to socializing. They called you The Mayor in elementary school, for your ability to engage everyone. You danced on the junior varsity dance team in high school. You spent four years attending college classes and made lifelong impressions on everyone you met.”
"A decade ago, when a young man walked to our door wearing a suit and bearing a corsage made of cymbidium orchids said, 'I’m here to take your daughter to the Homecoming, sir,' every fear I ever had about your life being incomplete vanished.
Now, you and Ryan are taking a different walk together.”
"My little girl, all in white, crossing the threshold of yet another conquered dream. I stand breathless and transfixed, utterly in the moment. 'You look beautiful,'’ is the best I can do."
See Jillian's full story in the video below.
We're so thrilled for Jillian as she embarks on this new journey in her life — and, we must say, it seems she'll always be in good hands with parents as caring as hers!
Please SHARE if you think Paul exemplifies what every parent should be: a source of unconditional love.
