Every Least Sparrow

A child can simultaneously break your heart and set it free. Such is the case with Jennifer Walker born with the rare Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome which severely challenges her mental and physical capabilities even as it piques her mothers dread of the unknown. Jennifers is a disorder that most doctors have never encountered one that informs the story of Every Least Sparrow.On the night of her birth the Walkers pediatrician lays out a new reality that will upend their household. He speaks of deformities that make no sense: spatula thumbs cathedral palate webbed neck beak nose a bird face.Confused and frightened baby in hand determined to find healing and understanding Jennifers mother a journalist writing about life in their small midwestern town embarks on a quest that takes them from doctor to doctor hospital to hospital and state to state.Its a quest filled with surgeries therapies and educational interventions mitigated by Jennifers love of music and her fun curious obsession with the Titanic - one that forces her mother to examine her own prejudices. Her combined private and professional lives impact Jennifers mother in a profound way creating for her a new understanding of what it means to be wife mother and human being.Filled with natural self-esteem Jennifer never realizes she is different from others. Instead she becomes their teacher proving that disability is but a notion. Spirited and impish brave and loving she takes her obstacles in stride and throws herself into the excitement of life - friendships romance employment.Those who know her eventually come to think of Jennifer in her lack of prejudice and guile as someone to be envied. Jennifer proves to all in the most affecting way that its possible to surmount seemingly impossible hurdles live fully and love unconditionally.