GABRYEL IS HER LITTLE BLESSING

There are certainly lots of ups to raising a child with Down syndrome.

That’s what Tavares resident Anne Spuck has learned since giving birth seven years ago to Gabryel.

The blue-eyed boy with dirty blond hair maintains a bubbly personality and heart of gold. A first-grade student at Triangle Elementary, Gabryel embraces his role as class clown and goes out of his way to make others laugh.

And he’s never met a stranger he didn’t like.

“One time we went into a restaurant and Gabryel walked up to a man and hugged him,” says Anne, 39. “The man started crying and told me Gabryel brightened his day. He can sense when others are hurting and goes out of his way to comfort them.”

In many ways, Gabryel is just like others his age. There are mischievous moments, such as the time he left a trail of cookie crumbs from the kitchen to his bedroom. He loves to ride bicycles and play outdoors, and he is responsible for putting dishes in the sink and cleaning his room. Completing those chores is no small feat.

“There are times when Gabryel is mentally drained,” says Anne, who owns a homecleaning company, Sparkle and Shine. “He has a hard time trying to understand what it is I’m asking him to do, and he gets upset when I do not understand him. It takes lots of patience with him and different ways of communicating. It took me a year to teach him how to put his shoes in the closet when we arrived home every day. The day he finally remembered he came running out of his bedroom ecstatic. But I want him to be a vital part of society and eventually have a job. I refuse to let him be a statistic.”

Just as Anne refused to allow Gabryel to become a statistic when she was 20 weeks pregnant and learned of his diagnosis. Seventy-Five percent of women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome choose to terminate their pregnancies. Although she became unexpectedly pregnant by an abusive ex-boyfriend and was already a single parent to her oldest child, Alyx, aborting her baby was never an option.

“People were telling me I couldn’t raise the child alone and it wouldn’t be fair to Alyx, who was 7 at the time,” she says. “I thought God was punishing Gabryel by giving him Down syndrome for the things I had done in my past. My self-worth was extremely low. Despite all that, when I first felt Gabryel kick I knew there was something special about him.”

After watching Alyx hold his baby brother for the first time, she knew she’d made the right decision.

“It was an instant bond,” she says. “Alyx said, ‘Mom, I don’t care what he was born with. He’s my brother and I love him.’ Hearing him say that healed a big part of my heart.”

Having a child with Down syndrome has not come without its fair share of struggles. In the first two years of his life, Gabryel was hospitalized many times to battle pneumonia and bronchitis. Feeding him with a bottle proved challenging because of his weak muscle tone. Anne had to hold the bottle and squeeze his cheeks at the same time to help him suck. He continues seeing specialists today to monitor his organs.

Still, the joys far outweigh the hardships.

“He has done more for me than I’ve done for him,” Anne says. “He changed my heart. There’s so much joy to find in a child with such an innocent heart. I know God doesn’t punish us and wasn’t punishing Gabryel. He has Down syndrome due to an extra chromosome.”

ANNE SPUCK’S ADVICE FOR RAISING A CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

“When people ask me how I’ve raised him alone, I want people to know that God has led my path with Gabryel and has been my strength. You never know what you’re capable of doing until it becomes your walk. Single or not, he’s my son and failure isn’t an option.”

Anne was originally going to name her baby Braxton. However, she chose Gabryel after Gabriel the archangel.