Unconditional.

Despite all of the challenges and conditions set forth in life, there is strength and hope that crosses all boundaries. This is a story of two individuals and their love that is unconditional.

Andrew Wright and Lyndsie Anspach, of Marysville, Ohio, are like many twenty-one and twenty year olds their age. Andrew, an avid sports fan, loves to follow his favorite teams, especially the Ohio State Buckeyes, while Lyndsie can often be found with phone in hand, laughing as she sends snapchats to friends and family. The two met when they were in pre-school at the Harold Lewis Center and were automatically buddied-up, both in the classroom and with their families. Their parents were eager to meet and get the kids together because of what they had in common: their children, Andrew and Lyndsie, were both born with Down syndrome.

Andrew’s parents, Robin and Troy, found out that they would have a child born with Down syndrome after a series of tests while Robin was pregnant. But for Lyndsie’s parents, Josie and Scott, it wasn’t until Lyndsie was born that they would find out. Having been tested for the syndrome and receiving negative results, it was quite the surprise added on to Lyndsie’s already one month early arrival. She would also go on to face other medical problems that can come with Down syndrome babies and would have to undergo two open-heart surgeries, challenges that Lyndsie’s father, Scott, said were the biggest they’ve faced.

It was early on that obstacles were found when facing what many other children pass by so quickly. Developmental delays are extremely common for children with Down syndrome and when reaching the age to check off milestones, Lyndsie’s parents found themselves adjusting, re-thinking. And while it could have been a moment of frustration, they searched for the silver lining. Lyndsie's mom, Josie, said,

“She’s taught us how not to take things for granted because I feel like with our first daughter, she walked and she talked and she crawled and it was big stuff, and then with Lyndsie, you appreciated it differently. You expected it, but then when she did it at her own pace, you just learned that things happen at different times for different people and you just accept it and you appreciate it a little more, a little different."

For Andrew’s parents, what they found most difficult was the times in which Andrew himself was frustrated. Communication didn’t come easily and when Andrew couldn’t get a message across or others couldn’t understand quite what he was saying, he really took it hard. Robin made it a point, however, to push for inclusion and to make sure that although having to work through frustration, that he would grow from his experiences and be able to live and learn amongst his peers. She says that because of that fight for inclusion, Andrew was able to become a person all of his own.

“By the time he got to middle school, I really didn’t do a whole lot for him. He’d accomplished what he wanted to, making friends, everybody loved him, so you know by the time he got to high school, his senior year, he was the homecoming king. I didn’t do any of that.”

Andrew was the first student with disabilities from Union County to go to college, an accomplishment both he and his parents could not be more proud of. Because of this, his high school, Marysville High School, applied for and received a grant to create a post-secondary program of their own which is Lyndsie’s college program today. Both Andrew and Lyndsie’s college educations still teach curriculum such as speech, but there is also a heavy emphasis on teaching them to live and work as individuals. With job-site training, resume building, and even cooking classes in the morning, they are preparing for what is ahead.

Andrew and Lyndsie are engaged and have plans to be wed in June of 2019. The wedding details have just begun, with both of their moms stepping in to help pull it all together. The two hope to get a house together and are already saving up for costs and preparing the best they can. Robin has been approved as their provider and has plans to begin that work this upcoming summer so that when the two are ready for a place of their own, all is in order.

When talking with Andrew and Lyndsie, their genuine natures and caring souls are absolutely heart-warming. They can light up a room with just one smile and it’s easy to see why all who cross their paths fall absolutely in love with them, both as a couple and as individuals. They are strong-willed and ready to tackle any obstacles that may come their way. They are reflections of their parents, who so lovingly raised them not as individuals with Down syndrome, but as human beings, capable of anything and everything they set their minds to. They have been taught that while having Down syndrome, that does not mean that they are any less magnificent. This is

absolutely certain. They have big dreams and bright futures and there is no doubt that they will go every step of the way, hand in hand, with their families right behind them.

Stats credit to: National Association for Down Syndrome, National Down Syndrome Society, the CDC.