Paul Daugherty told BuzzFeed News he is sharing his thoughts with the world to give hope to other parents of children with Down syndrome.

A dad has written a beautiful letter to his 25-year-old daughter with Down syndrome on the day she married her boyfriend of 10 years.

Paul and Kerry Daugherty

Paul Daugherty is a longtime sports columnist for the Cincinnati Enquirer and the author of An Uncomplicated Life, a memoir about raising his daughter Jillian.

He told BuzzFeed News he decided to write both his book and the essay for The Mighty to provide hope for other parents facing a Down syndrome diagnosis.

"I think people need hope in that situation," he said.

Paul and Kerry Daugherty

You are upstairs now, making final preparations with your mom and bridesmaids. Your hair is coiled perfectly above your slender neck. Your bejeweled dress – "my bling,'' you called it – attracts every glimmer of late afternoon sunshine pouring through the window. Your makeup – that red lipstick! – somehow improves upon a beauty that has grown since the day you were born. Your smile is blooming and everlasting.

I am outside, beneath the window, staring up. We live for moments such as these, when hopes and dreams intersect at a sweet spot in time. When everything we've always imagined arrives and assumes a perfect clarity. Bliss is possible. I know this now, standing beneath that window.

Paul and Kerry Daugherty

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