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dcox83's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic memoir about raising a son with Down Syndrome through the overall context of Gene Stallings's football coaching career.
While the football provides context, the real story is about Stallings's son, Johnny, born in 1967. Two things stood out to me:
The first is how in '67 most children with down syndrome were put into state hospitals, horrible places, and left there. Stallings visited one after his son was born and decided that no one he loved would be left in one, no matter how many challenges came with raising a son with special needs.
The second was Stallings devastating sadness after Johnny died. He doesn't go into it, but he's such a story teller throughout the book, and he addresses his son's death in just a few pages with short, clipped sentences. His love for his son is so evident throughout the book, addressing his son's death in the afterwards is a powerful way to finish the memoir.
While the football provides context, the real story is about Stallings's son, Johnny, born in 1967. Two things stood out to me:
The first is how in '67 most children with down syndrome were put into state hospitals, horrible places, and left there. Stallings visited one after his son was born and decided that no one he loved would be left in one, no matter how many challenges came with raising a son with special needs.
The second was Stallings devastating sadness after Johnny died. He doesn't go into it, but he's such a story teller throughout the book, and he addresses his son's death in just a few pages with short, clipped sentences. His love for his son is so evident throughout the book, addressing his son's death in the afterwards is a powerful way to finish the memoir.