Yesterday was a really important day and a day that I would like to bring more attention to right now, and hopefully going forward!
It was World Down Syndrome Day!
March 21st has been World Down Syndrome Day for 16 years now, starting back in 2007.
It is on that specific day because those with Down Syndrome have an extra copy of the 21st chromosome, so instead of having two, they have three copies.
So, 3/21 just makes sense, right?
For those that take part in the day and want to bring awareness to the cause, many of us wear crazy, mismatched socks!
And you know I took part in that!
I had one 76ers sock and one Pearl Jam sock!
Some people even wear a third sock to represent the extra chromosome.
The idea behind the socks is that when looking at chromosomes under a microscope they kind of look like a pair of socks.
Then, the mismatched idea comes from the idea of celebrating differences, while some friends wear the same set of mismatched socks to show that even though we are all different, we are also similar in so many ways!
So next March 21st, if you see someone with a crazy pair of non-matching socks on, go talk to them and maybe you can learn something new about Down Syndrome!
As I said earlier, this was a really important day for me.
And that is because I am a proud uncle to two amazing people that have Downs.
My niece, Lily, and my nephew, Nate.
They are truly the rock stars in my life – and that means a lot coming from a guy who plays rock stars over the air every day on WMGK!
But believe me, they are honestly the biggest rock stars I have ever met!
Lily is one of the most knowledgeable basketball fans I know!
She is a huge 76ers fan and is at so many games cheering on the team!
She probably knows even more than me about the Sixers, and I work for the team!
She also loves Steph Curry, so I am hoping that he gets to play next year when the Warriors come to town, so she can see him play in person!
And then don’t even get me started on how talented my nephew, Nate, is as a photographer!
He has an amazing eye for capturing amazing shots of all sorts of things!
Some of my favorites are his nature photos, architecture photos, and the beautiful pictures he gets of the sky at dusk!
Honestly, all of his pictures are top-notch!
You don’t have to believe me, though!
Go see for yourself on his Instagram, @NateFunkyPics.
I could go on for days about how proud I am of both of them!
Not only on World Down Syndrome Day but every other day as well.
I am so glad we could celebrate them as a whole yesterday, and every other amazing person with Down Syndrome, too!
Mark your calendars for next year, and get your crazy socks ready!
