Why the title?

Welcome to my foray into blogdom. I suppose I should start with an explanation of the blog title - Ten Squares, Three Squiggles.

The first part is a reference to a trip to Nepal I made alone (I know! What was I thinking?) to hike the Himalayas and trek to Mount Everest base camp. At the time I was told that Nepal was the fifth poorest country in the world but many of the people I met there seemed to be the richest souls alive. They didn't know they were "poor" by American standards. As you can imagine, I learned a lot about myself during this period of massive culture shock. One of the hardest realities to accept was how Type A, results-oriented, hurried, and materialistic I was and how that wasn't bringing me much joy. In fact, it was probably hindering me. In those magnificent mountains, I witnessed how I could get so much more out of life with so much less in nearly every imaginable way. And I discovered that I really could survive on ten square sheets of toilet paper a day. Even with a runny nose. You better believe I hugged my indoor plumbing when I returned home and yet, I didn't want to lose the peace and lucidity I experienced in those oxygen-deprived days.

As for the second part of the title ... have you ever seen your DNA karyotype? It's basically your genetic profile, a map of you at the most basic level. Most people have 46 chromosomes, divided into pairs. Those pairs are then laid out from longest to shortest and numbered 1 to 23. On paper, it looks like a bunch of little squiggles. When I was 20 weeks pregnant with Caden, I had an amniocentesis performed due to some "markers" discovered during a Level II ultrasound. The resulting karyotype had a big arrow pointing to the 21st set because instead of a pair, it revealed a trio of squiggles there. Trisomy 21. Down syndrome. I didn't know it at the time, but what was supposed to be an undesirable outcome would be one of the greatest gifts in my life. My son has taught me more in his two years than I could ever teach him in a lifetime. He's made my marriage stronger and made me a better mother and person. He reminds me to stop and savor the moment. He is happy. He loves living. Really, what's more important than that? He is my little Buddha, but with an Italian flair so more of a Buddhini.

So in the processes of traveling the world and raising a child with special needs, I've discovered that I am happiest when I cut out distractions and fully enjoy the simplest of moments. Thus the mantra: ten squares, three squiggles.