My Teacher Forrest

Forrest Gray: 22 years old
Portland Oregon
Teacher, Bodhisattva, artist and poet.

Born with Down Syndrome, Forrest can make you feel instantly happy, he tells amazing stories, lives in the moment, forgives easily and doesn't care about your past. He cares about today, being kind, being honest and a good meal. He isn't able to lie, be sarcastic or scheme. He has never been stressed about time or money, in fact he doesn't really understand them. At a very young age he refused to participate in any activity if the word "hurry" was signed/spoken to him. He doesn't hurry with anything. (Imagine if you lived even one week while never experiencing stress or worries about time and money, and you never were in a hurry!) He was proficient at sign language as early as two years old and began signing "I love you" several times per day to his mother along with over 200 other words and phrases. His hearing and speech has improved and he talks a lot these days. He tells us he loves us several times per pay, everyday. Forrest doesn't have "guy friends", he insists that you refer to those guys he loves as "brothers". People who get to know him are led to believe that he has a huge family as he tells them about all of his "brothers".

He recently lost an authentic friend who had developed Alzheimer's in her 80's. She died peacefully at home with family and friends. There is a connection in the 21st chromosomes of people with Down Syndrome and Alzheimer's. Read more in the blog entry about Julie and Forrest.

Forrest has decided to give Portland a try and recently moved here. He doesn't have any support staff, day programs or job coaching like he did in California, but that doesn't stop him from being happy.