Hey, Joe--I've been out of town for a week and have only had time to skim this thread, and to read your most recent post. Sometimes those empty platitudes are the best things I can come up with to express sympathy for people who I feel I know, if only virtually. I'm not real articulate when it comes to heavy-duty emotion, and I often cover it with humor. When that's really not appropriate, I'm sometimes left with only trite phrases, but that doesn't mean I don't care--just that I can't express it very well. I think it must help people to know that others are thinking about them, and I have spent some extensive prayer time on a number of people here.

My son, who has problems similar to Catspaw's kid, also has a couple of Downs buddies--they report his behavior to me every day when I come to pick him up, and get on his case when he's naughty. With early intervention and barring health problems, that kid will do fine and be happy.