The beauty of "Shorty" is that it conveys how Walter Simms is an utterly complete person. He understands honor, accomplishment, the dignity of work, family, faith, loss, love, joy and -- oh, yeah -- the thrill of athletic victory.
How to fight the termination of children with Down syndrome? The first step is for doctors to stop trying to scare parents out of having such children. Mary Salter, a Florida mother who has a Down syndrome son and has written about it, says, "I can't tell you how many times doctors who have seen my son have said to me, 'Didn't you know ahead of time?'"
The rest depends on us as a society choosing to value all of our members equally. A huge advance for children with Down syndrome came when we simply decided to stop institutionalizing them. You can do your small part in a wider campaign of acceptance by having a special greeting ready the next time you run into someone with Down syndrome, and by supporting the National Down Syndrome Society (www.ndss.org).
One of the most remarkable things about Walter Simms is his unshakable determination to be included. He says at one point in "Shorty": "I feel great. This world, I'm a part of it!"
Hallelujah, hallelujah.