Stories of Wil: Now in print!

Special friends: Wil and his “bestest” friend, Lila, who wrote the foreward to Christie’s book.

Wil is a 13-year-old boy with Down syndrome. He is the little brother, by 20 months, to twin sisters, Katherine and Elizabeth. Wil’s mom, Christie, knew very little about Down syndrome when Wil was diagnosed shortly after his birth. It didn’t take long for Christie to realize how enriching life with Down syndrome is. Embracing this newfound life, Christie was compelled to share her experiences with Wil. Christie’s desire, in sharing these stories, is to promote an awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the amazing capabilities of individuals with Down syndrome. Christie’s book, “Stories of Wil: Puberty Part 1,” is available in paperback from Amazon here. The following letter was written by Wil’s friend and classmate, Lila Harvey, for the book’s foreward. 

Submitted by Christie Taylor

I have known Wil since Kindergarten. On the first day of school we played an ice breaker game to get to know each other. We went from person to person and said our names, and favorite ice cream flavor. We got to choose who we partnered up with. I chose Wil. He was shy and his paraprofessional had to do most of the speaking for him but that didn’t bother me. I saw that he was different, but that made me want to be friends with him. I never discriminated against him. He was one of the reasons why I wanted to go to school every day, just to see him. I sat with him almost everyday at lunch and tried to play with him at recess (sometimes he didn’t want to play). Then one day after school, I asked my mom if I could have a playdate with Wil. My mom asked “Who is Wil?” I told her he was a boy in my class who was super nice. The next day, I introduced my mom to Wil. Then my mom started to talk with Wil’s mom and they hit it off. We had the best playdate ever and we have had more playdates and sleepover than I can count.

Wil and I have become super close friends. It seems like every time I am with Wil, we are always jamming out to either Luke Bryan or Alan Jackson. Wil is always dancing and singing like there is no tomorrow. He can be jamming away in class, walking the track in gym, or having a dance party down in his basement. He knows a lot more Luke Bryan songs than I do and I always smile when I hear him singing. He could listen to Luke Bryan till the end of the world if he can.

Wil IS different…

However, as different as he may be, I have always treated him like we were the same. When we were younger Wil and I went to a playground. We were going down one of the slides. I went down first and Wil was at the top. He wouldn’t come down. I told him to get down the slide, but he was stubborn and wouldn’t come down. Then I said, ”Stop playing around Wil and get down here!” Wil realized that he couldn’t fool me or get sympathy just because he was different so he came down. Just because he is different doesn’t mean that I always treat him any differently than my other friends. Sometimes Wil does need a little extra help from his friends and when that happens, we are always more than willing to support him as best we can.

Wil has bad days here and there. There have been some days when Wil just isn’t in it. There have been a few times at lunch when he starts playing with his food or just sits in the hallway and doesn’t want to do anything. Most of the time when this happens, Wil wants attention or he wants something. He is not the best at using his words, but he is getting better with it. His teachers and I are trying to get Wil to use his words at school. He is getting better each day with using his words, and I hope that one day, he won’t be shy to say what he wants to say.

Now, everyday I go to school to see Wil and get one of his awesome Wil Hugs. I never, ever have discriminated against Wil. He is one of my bestest friends in the entire world and I will never replace him. If I had the option, I would go back and do it all over again in a heartbeat.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.