This post is not about Bryan, but about a friend he recently met. A most remarkable and very talented young woman!

Emily and her mom visited Bryan and his roommate at his apartment several months ago. They wanted to talk about and see how life in the community with a roommate was working out for Bryan. As we conversed, Emily mentioned she had Down Syndrome. Bryan looked at her with astonishment. “So do I!” he exclaimed. That was the very first time I had actually heard him admit to this “label”. I secretly smiled at his reaction. This was a proud bond they shared – not a limiting diagnosis.

I had met Emily through an interesting series of events. My colleague, Tom Lloyd, Artistic Director of the Bucks County Choral Society, had a wonderful idea two years ago for commissioning a piece of music involving the neurodiverse community. This was right up my alley. I first approached a Bucks County poet laureate who has worked with this population for years. She, in turn, gave me Emily’s name. We connected via several methods – email, phone call and Zoom. Through Zoom Emily was introduced to the man who was to set her poetry to music, John Conahan, who sensitively and movingly brought out Emily’s deep heartfelt thoughts in his lovely setting of four of her poems.

I will be posting a video of that performance which happened Sunday, June 4th, on my Facebook page when the recording is completed in a few weeks. I urge you to view. Many in the audience and choir were moved to tears during the concert.

How did Emily come to be such a gifted poet? She was born severely hearing impaired and turned to the written word to express herself. Her parents made sure that she was exposed to all manner of written language from a very early age. The use of sign language and lip reading also helped Emily with understanding and communication.

During her school years, she excelled when the proper accommodation was made available and stayed in regular education classes throughout high school. Of course, this was due, in large part, to the unwavering advocacy of her parents. Upon graduation, Emily completed her Associates Degree in Medical Office Assistance at the Commonwealth Technical Institute in Johnstown, PA, my home town.

She currently works for the Department of Motor Vehicles in their photo licensing center. She lives in an apartment in Sellersville, above her mother with her calico cat, Inky, about whom she writes in the movement “Calico Cats” from the musical setting of her poetry entitled “Life, Death and Cats”.

In the past, I had a tendency to compare Bryan to other Down Syndrome individuals we met along the way. I think I’m over that now. It is time to cheer on and celebrate the success of others in the neurodiverse community , not to wistfully wish Bryan could be smarter, more fluent in his speech, neater, more talented, etc.

And so I wholeheartedly applaud Emily in such an amazing accomplishment and wish her much success in her bright future. The best part of this story? Emily, whose pen has remained silent for several years due to overwhelming sadness in the loss of her dear sister Julianne (movement four in “Life, Death and Cats”) , has once again begun to write. Who knows what beautiful poetry she will continue to bless us with?