This is not fiction. This is my son. Writing about Teddy—my Teddy—requires something else entirely. There’s no abstraction here. No
detachment. This isn’t a metaphor or myth. It’s a raw, personal, vulnerable story about hope, love and what path you choose to live on with.
Two Paths, One Choice
Choice shapes how we face life's challenges.
Fear Into Hope
Unexpected news doesn't have to mean lost hope.
Stronger Through Struggle
Love and family are strengthened through adversity, not diminished by it
Every Soul Teaches
Every person, regardless of ability, has something valuable to teach
Luke MacPHERSON
There are two paths. And we choose ours every day.
Luke MacPherson — writer, educator, and father of three. He has spent 25 years in special education, advocating for students of every ability with empathy and humor. He believes deeply in human potential, on the page and in the classroom. What changed his life is his son Teddy, who taught him what happiness is and what letting go of societal expectations from your children is like. He channels that journey into this heartfelt memoir.
But he is not only a writer but a musician who plays guitar with his band, Iron Reverb. He spends his days chasing joy and dodging thrown objects. Luke describes Teddy as his smallest, wisest teacher. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife, Kerin, and their cosmic trio: Bruce, Clark, and Teddy.
THREE of a PERFECT PAIR
Three of a Perfect Pair is Luke MacPherson’s memoir about becoming a father to his son Teddy, who was born with Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect. MacPherson opens with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous response to an internet troll mocking Special Olympics athletes and using it to introduce the book’s central idea i.e that in any hard moment, there are two paths, and we can choose which one to follow.
He details the fear and fatigue of Teddy’s first months, then the change when it turned out that Teddy was joyful, sweet, and loving. Rather than mourning the life they expected, the family reoriented themselves toward the new life — restructuring their priorities, routines, and every other aspect of their relationships with one another in a pledge of love.
Three of a Perfect Pair covers the realities of raising a child with Down Syndrome: medical worry alongside everyday joy, shifting friendships, new family traditions, and lessons the author didn’t know he needed to unlearn. MacPherson frames the memoir not as a story of sadness or loss, but a reflection on what it means to be not a perfect human.
Joy and hardship are not opposites
Letting go of expectations opens the door to something truer.
Presence matters more than perfection.
Ordinary moments carry extraordinary meaning.
Watch the official trailer
There are two paths — and every family faces the moment of choosing between them. Three of a Perfect Pair is the true story of Luke MacPherson and his son Teddy, born with Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect. Hopeful, honest, and personal, this memoir asks readers to see differences not as a setback, but as a gift — and to consider which path they would choose. Watch the trailer, then start the journey for yourself.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
It’s for anyone who has ever had their plans shattered and had to rebuild from scratch. MacPherson doesn’t hold back on the dark, scary moments, which makes Teddy’s joy and the family’s hard-earned victories feel so earned.
Willa Cooper
My daughter has a chromosomal condition and I’ve read a LOT of books in this space. I usually avoid memoirs that lean too heavily into “everything happens for a reason” tropes, but MacPherson completely avoids toxic positivity here. He is brutally honest about the exhaustion, the terrifying heart monitor beeps, and the sheer panic of having a newborn with Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect.
I laughed, I cried, I called my mom”
I picked this up not knowing what to expect and ended up finishing it in one sitting. Luke MacPherson doesn’t sugarcoat the terror of that hospital room or the grief of losing the “normal” life you envisioned. It’s genuinely hopeful and full of love. Got copies for three of my friends who just became parents.
