The Beauty Of Being Different

Tracy Holmes FRI7FEB25

s the late, great Dame David of Bowie proved to the world, it’s not okay to be different.

It’s feckin’ amazing.

And yet, there are those who greet anything outside their everyday experiences as something to avoid, to ignore, to fear.

It’s a feeling Tracy Holmes would certainly recognise when, in Holles Street Hospital on June 11th, 2021, she was informed that one of the twins that she had just given birth to had Down Syndrome.

“My head was just reeling in that moment,” she says. “I was jumping years ahead, and the life my son might have, how he may be treated differently, given a hard time at school, be treated as an outsider…”

It’s a gut reaction that Holmes explores in her new book, Raising Resilience, an open-hearted diary of her difficult journey to becoming open-minded.

Today, Freddie – just like his twin, Theo, and older brother, Harry – is one happy chappy, blessed with two very loving parents in Tracy and Andrew. It’s a far cry from the spiral that saw his mum suffer a mental breakdown, and a very long night’s journey back into daylight.

“I was determined to be totally honest with this book,” Tracy says today, “and I knew from the start that writing it would be very painful at times. But this is really for all the new mothers who just can’t cope, especially in that first year.

“And it’s not that your baby has to be different in any way. Becoming a parent can be a complete shock to the system, an exercise in sleep deprivation and living with the constant fear that you’re simply not up to the job.

“This book is to give those people the sense that they’re not alone in feeling that way, and that life can so very easily be beautiful. Even with a baby screaming its head off at 4am.”

With John McGowan catching the launch in Greystones last night – pics here, people – we caught up with Tracy this afternoon to talk conceptions, preconceptions and feeling immaculate…

You can grab your copy of Raising Resilience here, and donate to Down Syndrome Ireland right over here.