Mom's photos of son with Down syndrome change 'markers' to gold
"That's the thing about a prenatal diagnosis, it doesn't predict the soul."
It was the stained glass window that's stayed with her all these years.
Photographer and mom Erin Witkowski told "Good Morning America" that capturing the images of her 10-year-old son Grady, who was born with Down syndrome, in front of the window was a "full circle and healing moment for me."
About 10 and a half years ago, Witkowski and her husband, Paul Witkowski, were at St. Anthony's Hospital in Warwick, New York. Erin was about 20 weeks pregnant with Grady.
It was a Catholic hospital, she said, and the doctor's office was also a former priest's office. In front of a stained glass window, the doctor delivered a diagnosis.
"This day changed my life forever," she wrote in Facebook post that's been shared thousands of times. "I remember the large wooden desk the doctor sat at and the stained glass that towered behind him. It was a cloudy day but the soft light danced through the windows and into my eyes. Grady's tiny feet where kicking my belly as my husband grabbed my hand so we could sit down.
"His [the doctor's] first words after we sat down ... 'I'm sorry your son has Down syndrome, you have two weeks to make a decision,'" she wrote. "The only decision we made was to NEVER go back to that Dr's office or deliver there. I have relived those words and that moment over and over again in my mind, they burned deep into my motherly soul."
"It was THAT very moment my son was named a 'decision' and 'broken' to the world was also the same day we named him a gift from God," she continued.
It was the occasion of Grady's 10th birthday that his mother -- a professional photographer for more than a decade -- decided to capture his images.
The photos were not only in front of stained glass, but shots of all the "markers" usually seen on an ultrasound for a Down syndrome diagnosis. Witkowski filled in each of those with gold.
She named the photo series Kintsugi, for the ancient Japanese art that celebrates broken artifacts by filling the cracks with Gold to bring it to new life. It's often said that Kintsugi makes something even more beautiful than the original.
"Beautiful" is certainly how the Port Jervis, New York, family feels about life with Grady, the second of four children.
"The struggles never outweigh the joy," Witkowski said. "That's the thing about a prenatal diagnosis, it doesn't predict the soul."
Today, Grady attends the local public school with his siblings and his mom says he's like "the mayor. She told "GMA" "his personality is huge. He loves to dance and sing and be the center of attention."
And he loves his mother, Witkowski said. She adores him right back.
"I truly found my voice and vision after having Grady," she said. "He allowed me to see beauty in a whole new way."
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