Happy Holidays from The Chromosome 18 Registry

December 24 2023

I always love the Chromosome 18 card. Check out the quote on the back of this year’s card. ❤️💚❤️

“The journey from Lillian being diagnosed at 3-years-old to where we are now at 22-years-old would have been immeasurably more difficult and lonely if not for The Chromosome 18 Registry & Research Society. The Registry has blessed our entire family with critical information, research updates, hope, fun, friendships, and the family we never knew we needed.”

Throwback Post: Halloween Party in Fairy Land

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October 19 2013:

Lillian just got done telling me I’m a guest tonight at a Halloween party in Fairy Land! So gosh darn excited! Think I’ll go dressed as me with my red and black cowboy boots! Gotta get to bed and fall asleep because Lillian said she’d be looking for me! Can’t wait to see how Halloween is celebrated in Fairy Land! HA!

Throwback Post: Lillian and Camilla October 2013 Date Day

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October 19 2013:

October 19, 2013: Date day with Lillian … more like date afternoon! Spent the morning waiting on this young lady to get done reading books and taking her time doing her heart’s desire!

First stop on the date day …. getting a new pair of pants to replace the new pants that have a hole in the knee from her fall the other day. Second stop … The Library! Off to The Romano Casa for dinner now.

Throwback Post: Mailing Books While Celebrating With Homeschool PE

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October 19 2012:

It’s a fabulous day to mail a book …. Gosh!! It’s a great day!!!

Here’s to ME!!! … And a new part of the Journey and my Purpose …. Contract work with the Human Behavior Institute working with special needs children … Open yourself up to receive and watch the magic that happens …. 🙂) Cheers with The Romano Duo!!


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October 19 2011:

PE time!! Feels good out here!

Had the most amazing time tonight with my eWomenNetwork Reno/Carson/Tahoe/Vegas/Sierra Nevadas Chapter friends. There are just no words to capture how blessed and grateful I am to have my eWn friends. Y’all help to nurture and bring out my GLOW! I sure hope I do the same for you! I ♥ y’all!

Throwback Post: Pumpkin Cookies at the Library While Getting a Massage With Water and Coaching

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October 18 2015:

Cheers to pumpkin pie cookies! It’s a Halloween-Party-Music-Cookie-Baking kinda afternoon! xoxo


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October 18 2014:

Thomas and I LOVE and appreciate Dr. Emoto’s research and his beautiful book!!! Wonderful man whose soul will continue to shine so bright and beautifully!!


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October 18 2013:

Library adventures while Thomas is at Lego Club! Love this library! Such a great selection of books.


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October 18 2012:

Time for an hour of bliss at the magic hands of my gifted friend Tele …..


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October 18 2011:

Module #2 of 16 – WooooHoooo!!

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What a jam packed day today! Lillian and I were helpers this morning in Thomas’s class, then a massage appointment for both of us, then lunch, then ST and PT for Lillian and NOW . . . . in an hour and a half I get to teach the last session of the Social Media Tools class at Redfield Campus for Extended Studies – Continuing Education at the University of Nevada, Reno! I’m already ready for bed! Now this has been an adventurous day!

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Just got D.J.’s {Friends of DJ Svoboda and the Imagifriends} artwork to be included on the cover of my book – D iz for Different! YAY!! Thanks D.J.!!

Throwback Post: Lillian Asks for Reviews

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Hey Chris!

I contacted you back in 2013 to let you know how much I enjoy your books and you sent me an autographed book! I was twelve years old then and am sixteen now! Here are the pictures from that time.

My first book is nearing completion to be published and should be ready by the end of November or some time in December 2017. My mother, Camilla Downs, helped me draft this email.

I was wondering if you’d be interested in writing a review blurb for the cover of my book, “Where Would You Fly and Other Magical Stories”. If this is not something you feel comfortable doing, do you know any other children’s book authors who would be interested?

Here’s a description of the book; which my mom helped with also …

This book is a collection of tales, adventures, and poems she has written over the years about fairies, princesses, food, emotions, and much more (from 6 years old through 15 years old).

The book contains fictional short stories created and written by Lillian over the years. Some of them will definitely have a “Disney-esque” flavor, most have “positive thinking” as the moral, they are fantasy stories with happy endings, and some teach how to mirror animals in processing emotions.

I suppose this may be best described as a fictional anthology of Lillian’s life and imagination to date. The imagination and creative process of one with a chromosome deletion and how she chooses to see the world.

The stories and poems will be edited for spelling and grammar, yet the bulk of the stories will remain as she originally wrote and published them on her blog, a previous blog from when she was younger, and handwritten stories throughout the years.

Here’s one of the tales:

A Happy World

I just got inspired by a drawing I drew. Here’s a story based on the drawing.

One day, a bird picked up a seed to eat. A few minutes later, the bird decided that it wasn’t the right seed. The bird threw it back down. That was the beginning of the Happy World.

As the years past, the tree grew until it had several branches and a strong trunk. The strong tree became known as the Happy Tree. The Happy Tree decided to produce a seed. The seed grew with happiness and love. One day, the seed blossomed into a young beautiful tree that didn’t grow much after that point.

The young tree became known as the Amazing Beauty Tree. The Amazing Beauty Tree saw the Happy Tree. Suddenly, she realized that she wanted to know who produced her. She asked the Happy Tree if it was him who planted her. He said yes and Amazing Beauty wanted to produce a seed of her own.

She let the bird fly the seed to the Happy World. The seed became a thin beautiful conifer tree. The tree produced identical seeds until there was almost no room to plant seeds. After that the trees started planting grass seeds. After the grass had grown, there was no room to plant seeds.

A few years later, the several earthquakes that would become the mountains shook the world. The trees, birds, and grass survived. They noticed something different about the landscape and they saw triangular tall figures. They soon realized that they had seen a mountain. About the same time, their roots filled with water and animals.

One year later, humans discovered the Happy World and decided to make a small town out of it. They also made cars, rockets, and kites. The sun, clouds, rain, hail, snow, and thunderstorms were always there but they were nicer than outside of the Happy World. Everyone lived happily.

If you go into a forest, you will realize that the Happy World is the forest.

(14 years old – July 2016)

If you would like to review a few more stories, let us know.

Also, here’s our first review blurb received from one of my mom’s friends who has his 2nd children’s book debuting in December …

“You can’t help but feel happy and be inspired while reading this book. Lillian’s stories jump straight out of her heart and onto the pages in an authentic, innocent, and loving way.
The world needs more positivity and happiness and her stories are bursting with both. Thank you Lillian!” -G. Brian Benson – Award-winning and best-selling author, actor and TEDx speaker.

Thank you so much for your time!

Sincerely,
Lillian Darnell
One of Your Biggest Fans!
P.S. I cc’d my Mother with this email just in case you want to respond to her.

Throwback Post: Homemade Poem and LEGO Creation

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November 6 2013:

Lillian asked Thomas what he wants for his birthday. He told her he wants a nice homemade poem and a lego creation … and on that note, he took a picture of one of her lego creations and uploaded it to some lego app where everyone can look at it and rate it. He called it Statue of Liberty … Going to bed tonight blessed and grateful that I get to have these two in my life …