Charleigh Bernal has a way of making people smile.
She is almost 2, has a contagious belly laugh, loves music and dancing, and is endlessly curious about the world around her. She is also sassy, funny, determined and, according to her mom, pure sunshine.
“She just makes everything better,” said Heather Bernal, Charleigh’s mom.
That little girl from Midlothian soon will have an audience much bigger than the one she is accustomed to entertaining at home.
Charleigh was selected to appear in the National Down Syndrome Society’s annual Times Square Video Presentation in New York City on Sept. 12. Her photograph will be featured among those of approximately 500 individuals with Down syndrome during the hour-long presentation at Father Duffy Square.
Her family will be there to watch it happen.
And Heather already knows it will be an emotional morning.
“I already know Mommy and Daddy are probably going to be a mess when she appears on those screens!” she said.
The photograph selected for the presentation is particularly meaningful to the family. Charleigh is wearing a little red cap and gown, an image Heather said represents everything that lies ahead for her daughter.
“To me, it represents everything ahead of her,” Heather said. “Oh, the places our Charleigh Girl will go.”
The journey to that moment has been filled with milestones, laughter and a growing realization for Heather and Charleigh’s dad that their daughter is capable of far more than anyone should assume.
During Heather’s pregnancy, she said much of the information presented to the family focused on what their daughter might not be able to do because she had Down syndrome.
Then Charleigh arrived five weeks early.
“She completely changed everything we thought we knew,” Heather said.
Almost two years later, Heather said her family has learned an important lesson.
“We have learned not to put limits on Charleigh,” she said. “She continually shows us exactly why.”
Charleigh has a personality that seems impossible to contain in one little girl.
“She is sassy, funny, incredibly smart, curious, determined and so loving,” Heather said. “She has the biggest smile and the most contagious belly laugh.”
She loves to dance. She loves music. She explores her surroundings and tries to figure out how things work. And when something catches her attention, Heather said, Charleigh is determined to understand it.
“If she wants to figure something out, you can almost watch the wheels turning in her head until she does it,” Heather said.
Yet one of the things that makes Charleigh most remarkable has little to do with what she can accomplish.
It is what she does to the people around her.
“Complete strangers are drawn to her,” Heather said. “People stop to say hello, smile at her and interact with her, and she gives that joy right back.”
Heather has seen people’s entire demeanor change simply because Charleigh smiled at them.
That ability to connect with people is something Heather treasures.
“She doesn’t care who you are, what kind of day you’re having or what differences exist between you,” she said. “She smiles, laughs and loves without reservation.”
Charleigh’s diagnosis is part of her story, but Heather is quick to point out that it is not what defines her daughter.
“Down syndrome is nowhere near the most interesting thing about Charleigh,” Heather said. “She’s Charleigh.”
“She’s funny. She’s stubborn. She’s affectionate. She’s smart. She’s curious. She’s sassy. She loves BIG. And she has somehow packed an enormous personality into one very little girl.”
Earlier this year, the family submitted one of Charleigh’s photographs for consideration in the Times Square presentation. When they received word that she had been selected, the moment felt surreal.
Approximately 500 people with Down syndrome are chosen each year to appear in the presentation, making Charleigh’s selection an especially meaningful moment for her family.
Heather said the experience represents much more than seeing her daughter’s face on a giant screen in New York.
“It is representation,” she said. “It is another opportunity for the world to see people with Down syndrome living, growing, learning, accomplishing things, being loved and simply belonging.”
Being Charleigh’s mom also has changed the way Heather looks at Down syndrome and disability.
“Today, I don’t look at Charleigh and see limitations,” she said. “I see possibilities.”
Heather said she sometimes thinks about the mother she was during pregnancy, when fear came from hearing so much about what her daughter might not be able to do.
“I wish I could go back and tell the scared mom I was during pregnancy, ‘Just wait until you meet her,’” she said.
Now, Heather said, she and Charleigh’s dad feel incredibly fortunate to have the daughter they do.
“We aren’t just proud of Charleigh,” she said. “We genuinely feel incredibly lucky that we get to be her mom and dad.”
On Sept. 12, that pride will be on full display in Times Square.
The presentation is scheduled for 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Eastern time and also will be livestreamed. Charleigh’s family plans to stand together in New York and watch their little girl become part of a celebration of people with Down syndrome from around the world.
Heather knows what she will be thinking when she looks up at the screens.
“That’s our girl.”
And if there is one thing she hopes people understand after hearing Charleigh’s story, it is that a diagnosis should never become a prediction of what a person can or cannot accomplish.
“Never decide someone’s limitations before giving them the opportunity to show you their possibilities,” Heather said.
Almost two years into Charleigh’s life, Heather no longer wonders what her daughter’s future will look like.
She sees it every day.
“They look like belly laughs,” she said. “They look like celebrating milestones. They look like dancing in the living room, a house filled with toys, appointments, advocating, learning, growing, and a little girl whose smile can completely change your day.”
Charleigh has changed her family’s life in ways Heather never could have imagined.
“Charleigh didn’t make our lives less than what we imagined,” Heather said.
“She made them bigger.”
And soon, that little girl with the giant personality and even bigger smile will bring a little bit of Midlothian sunshine to Times Square.