Mother, Daughter Shaped State's Approach

Came across this beautiful tribute by Harry Heintz, pastor of Brunswick Church, about Cherie Messier and her mother Henriette who helped shape the way New York State understanding of and approach in working with children and adults with developmental disabilities.

There is hole in the heart of this region this season. On April 18, Monday of Holy Week, Cherie Messier died. It has been my high privilege to know Cherie and her parents, Ernie and Henrietta, for some years. They have been world changers, starting in Green Island, their hometown, and going well beyond.
When Ernie returned from World War II, he married Henrietta. Both hailed from small households. They wanted to raise a large family, perhaps with as many as seven children. The fulfillment of that dream began in 1948 with the birth of Cherie, a beautiful 5-pound girl, small of frame like her parents.
In Cherie's first two months with them, her pediatrician called Henrietta regularly to see how the baby was doing. That seemed odd to Henrietta's new mother friends, whose pediatricians didn't call them.
There was a reason. The doctor had suspicions that Cherie was what we now call a child with Down syndrome. Ernie and Henrietta suspected no such thing and didn't know what that meant. Their doctor urged them to see a specialist at Albany Medical Center Hospital. It turned out to be the worst experience in their lives.
What that specialist told them was brutal. "She's Mongoloid. She'll never live long. If she does she'll be a vegetable. You have an idiot. Give her up now. Separate from her now. Forget you ever had her."