As I sat in front of my computer this evening, getting fired up about other blog comments and posts, this evening’s American Idol episode played in the background.

I was in a bit of a salty mood tonight — husband is traveling, the dog has been sick (caused by stress from having my visiting 2 month old cousin with colic over, of all things), school has been hectic as Spring Break nears, and my parents are vacationing in the Dominican — which left me in charge of taking care of my younger sister.

Now typically I do not watch commercials — the power of digital video recording.  However, I was busy typing agitated comments and let the commercials run.

And now I am sitting here in tears.

I hadn’t heard of The Foundation for A Better Life — an organization that utilizes “various media efforts to encourage adherence to a set of quality values through personal accountability and by raising the level of expectations of performance of all individuals regardless of religion or race” — until their commercial came on.

The setting — a high school homecoming dance.  A beautiful young lady appears on the stage to announce the homecoming queen.  The winner — another beautiful young lady, who happens to have Down Syndrome. She enters the stage to applause.  Her face lights up — and my eyes fill with tears.

You see, my younger sister Rebecca is a wonderfully smart, silly, and sweet gal. She loves playing pranks, watching movies, singing, and Sandra Bullock.  Seriously, she LOVES Sandra Bullock. She also happens to have Down Syndrome.

As I rewound the commercial for another look, I caught the caption - “A True Story.”  How wonderful.  How beautiful.  How inspiring.

If you need a break from negativity, take a few seconds to watch the commercial.

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