A gal in my parish is the grandmother of a child whose parents knew he would be born born with multiple disablities. She has helped her daughter and son-in-law in every possible way taking care of this grand-son. He is now 20, by the way, though the grandmother knows she will still probably outlive this frail-but-tough, pitiable but mighty-fine boy.
She says that he (Raymond) has also become the nucleus of a small but valiant, crying, laughing, caring community. She wonders out loud if that's what such children are "for": to serve as the nuclei of caring communities.
She also said to me, "When society looks at a sonogram of a baby with a genetic disease, the real question is not 'Is he really human in every sense of the word?' but 'Are we?'"
That is PERFECTLY stated!