Our founder, Joni Eareckson Tada, loves meeting all the amazing families we serve at Family Retreat. This year she and Ken Tada attended Family Retreat at Joni and Friends California and met their friend Nathan, who loved the nautical dress-up day! #DownSyndrome #NationalDownSyndromeAwarenessMonth #TheLuckyFew | Joni and Friends

“I was not happy with mass public attention and I withdrew. I built a stone cottage up on the northern coast of British Columbia. There I planned to spend the rest of my life as a hermit. My soul was recovering, repairing itself. One day I dove off the rocks into the water and I came up. It was like a black mirror, the trees were reflected in it. As I burst the surface I broke into laughter I so happy. And I had seen mink and animals you know sliding off mud banks and playing with their own joy