Danny's Downs....How Many Families Have Lived These Lyrics?

i was over on kelle cryderman hampton's facebook page this afternoon, and i found a reference about this song that i had never heard before.  it is from peter, paul and mary's 1999 album songs of conscience and concern.  these are the lyrics....i know it's not politically correct, people first language, but the story the song tells brought tears to my eyes.....

DANNY'S DOWNS

Michael Blanchard- Diadem Sky/Gotz Music (ASCAP)



On the day little Danny arrived

His father stared and his mother cried

They knew his name but they didn't know why

He looked the way he did

This thing happens to other kids

How in the world are we gonna live

With a boy like that?

Doctor said,"Dan's the first bad news

Second is his heart won't make it through

It must be fixed unless you choose

To send him back where he came

Starve the boy from his name

Just six short days of pain

Or maybe less"

Chorus:

Danny's Downs but Love is up

It's been known to be more than enough

For more and more of us

Danny's downs but Love is up

"I'm not that strong," his father said

"The dreams are gone, the hopes have fled

Won't be long after he's dead

We'll try again to find

The child we had in mind

Where the hell are those papers to sign?"

And the man broke down

In a private room Danny's mother wept

As an old Jamaican woman swept

And not by chance their eyes met

(And she said)

"God's gifts are only good y'know

And there ain't no Love the Lord can't grow

Aw honey, take that boy with ya when ya go

Back home

(Chorus)

It's been eight years since the surgery

His sister's 5, his brother's 3

He goes to school and he knows how to read

He takes the bus home by himself

Puts his lunch pail back upon the shelf

And he hugs his Momma till she melts

To the floor

They're more than a home, they're a family

'Cause blood and bones are still souls y'see

And someone's baby's just another Danny

And in the guest room in the back

Lives this old Jamaican black

'Cause when you give a gift

God gives it back again.

(Chorus)

i could not find the origins for this song, why he wrote it or anything else, but i did find the songwriter's webpage, Michael Kelly Blanchard, and this links to a post from a 16 year old boy named danny, who has Down syndrome.  he wrote to tell michael that he used this song in a high school report that he gave in his youth leadership class!   

i'm so thankful for the advances that have been gained in america, that we are not given such a choice when we give birth to our precious babies who have Down syndrome....but what about all those babies with Down syndrome who are born in other countries.  whose parents are told to leave them at the hospital, because their life is not worth the effort.....  

or like the Davis family, who were told just last week by a russian judge that their adoption of Kirill, who has Down syndrome, was DENIED:  "The basis given was that Kirill was “not socially adaptable” due to his “medical condition” and he was better off in an institution than in a home with a family."  to see this child hug his mother, it breaks your heart to know that they are being denied the opportunity to take him home. please follow their story on their blog Our Eyes Opened.    

PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS FAMILY AS THEY APPEAL THE JUDGE'S DECISION;  PRAY THAT THE JUDGE'S HEART WILL BE SOFTENED, AND THAT HER EYES WILL BE OPENED TO THE TRUTH.....  tesney asks that we pray for "God to move the mountain that is standing between Kirill and us as we appeal to the Supreme Court in Moscow. There are also three other families who are in various stages of adopting children with Down Syndrome from Kirill’s region; one of the families has a court hearing set for next week."    and pray that above all else, GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED.....