At one o'clock Saturday afternoon the Big Zig phone rang. The voice on the other end sounded stressed. New York documentary film maker Chandler Griffin had a broken lens and needed a replacement.  I knew that since he was from out of town and that most rental houses are closed on Saturdays he was not going to get a camera or a lens on such short notice. I did a little research and then realized that the only sollution was to offer to bring a P2 camera that we were testing. Chandler explained that he was interviewing families with children with Cri du Chat syndrome: a condition I would learn is caused by "a missing piece of the fifth chromosome"* and effects each child differently. Some have limited muscle control and use a brace to walk. Some have varying degrees of mental retardation. Others look totally "normal."

So I drove to the Santa Clara Marriott and called Chandler from the lobby with the camera in hand. A man with stylish glasses, beard and shorts came into the lobby, looked up, saw the camera and said, “You must be Sophie,” and hugged me with relief.

Then we raced up to his room and without delay, set up the camera and came back downstairs to do interviews. The way it all happened was very natural.
We walked through the hallways where there was a different meeting happening in each room. We set up the first interview.

Listening to the personal stories of families faced with such difficult circumstances was an unexpected gift. Everyone was more than willing to share their experiences about how they have dealt with cri du chat.

I encourage you to learn as much as you can about this condition. It gave me so much perspective on my own life.

* from article written about the family being featured in Chandler Griffin’s documentary.
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060227/NEWS/602270349/1002/NEWS01

Chandler Griffin

http://www.barefootworkshops.com/news.html

 

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