When you have a child with Down Syndrome, it's natural to worry about their future happiness. So when Paul Daugherty's daughter Jillian got married recently, it was an extra special day.
Jillian from Ohio has Down Syndrome and, as Paul writes in a heartfelt letter on her big day, "I don't know what the odds are of a woman born with Down syndrome marrying the love of her life. I only know you've beaten them."
When Jillian was born, Paul and his wife Kerry knew they could fight for her right to a decent education and the chance of a working life, but as he said:
"What we couldn't do was make other kids like you. Accept you, befriend you, stand with you in the vital social arena."
He continued, lamenting what he thought Jillian was going to miss out on.
"We thought 'what's a kid's life, if it isn't filled with sleepovers and birthday parties and dates to the prom? I worried about you then. I cried deep inside on the night when you were 12 and you came downstairs to declare, 'I don't have any friends.'"
But as it turns out, Paul needn't have worried so much, as Jillian has an inate likeability, as she discovered over time.
"You're a natural when it comes to socialising," he wrote. "They called you The Mayor in elementary school, for your ability to engage everyone."
"You danced on the junior varsity dance team in high school. You spent four years attending college classes and made lifelong impressions on everyone you met."
Reflecting on how far she's come in life, Paul reminds her of all of the things that she thought she'd never do.
"You wouldn't ride a two-wheeler or play sports. You wouldn't go to college. You certainly wouldn't get married. Now...look at you."
While Paul gradually realised that his daughter could indeed have a full life, he only stopped worrying completely when Jillian's now-hubby Ryan turned up on the family's doorstep to take Jillian to the prom.
"A decade ago, when a young man walked to our door wearing a suit and bearing a corsage said 'I'm here to take your daughter to the Homecoming, sir', every fear I ever had about your life being incomplete vanished," Paul wrote.
"Now, you and Ryan are taking a different walk together. It's a new challenge, but it's no more daunting for you than anyone else. Given who you are, it might be less so."
"Happiness comes easily to you. As does your ability to make happiness for others. It worked out for you, because of the person you are."
And so this loving father asks everyone, "Do not look at my daughter and define her by her appearance. See her, and allow her to define herself."
Speaking to ABC News, he then credited each and every one of Jillian's 125 wedding guests for doing just that - seeing her as a person.
"Every single one of them had helped Jillian get to that day...Those who have taken the time to see Jillian, rather than simply look at her, have benefitted from the relationship, and rewarded with a lifetime friend."
