“‘Emily?’ The sniffling voice on the other line was hoarse from sobbing. I sighed. A tearful call in the middle of the night could only mean one thing. She hesitated. ‘Will you and Chris be my foster parents?’ I was caught off guard. We were 23 and 24 at the time, and newly engaged.”
‘It’s really bad this time,’ she whispered. ‘My sister kicked me out. The cops are involved. I’m so scared.’ Paralyzed husband and his wife adopt 19-year-old, only 6 years younger than them
‘A 20-year-old suddenly appeared on our doorstep. He needed a family just as much as we needed him. His foster mom texted me, ‘I’m no longer able to provide care for him.’
“Joe had lived with a caring foster mother for the past 7 years. He has cognitive disabilities and required ongoing care, even though he was now an adult. I emailed friends, ‘I feel sad he is not with us.’ Less than an hour later, I got her text. We had less than a day to decide.”
‘His last text said, ‘Bank robber.’ My heart raced and I ran upstairs. I received a message from a stranger offering condolences to my fiancé. I had no idea what was going on.’
“After several unanswered phone calls and texts, I rushed to the hospital. The surgeons called me into a tiny room with a white board. The news didn’t hit me until I had to relay it to my parents. All we could do was sob.”
‘Who is this,’ I asked. ‘This is Ty’s assistant principal. I just came upon a car accident on my way home. It’s Ty, and he is not good.’ Wait, what?
“I told him I would let him know when I was home from school, so he could come pick me up. Little did I know when I made that phone call, the details I heard on the other end would change our lives forever. Nothing would ever, ever be the same.”
‘I was ejected and thrown 50 feet from my car. I died that day. I knew I couldn’t feel my legs, but I didn’t know why. I was told I would never walk again.’
“I think every girl dreams of walking down the aisle to her husband. I had pictured it in my head since I was a little girl. I didn’t want that picture to play out differently just because of my accident. So I chased my dream.”
‘I didn’t want my heart broken again’: Wheelchair user finds her ‘true, unconditional love’ after trying to ‘self-sabotage’ the relationship
“He never once made me feel insecure about my disability and never once asked me what my disability meant for my future.”
‘My faith in humanity was restored with this cheap, plastic egg’: Mom overwhelmed by man’s act of kindness for wheelchair-bound daughter
“I’m not going to lie. I’m glad I had sunglasses on so he and his friends couldn’t see my eyes watering.”
‘We are going to carry you’: Students tell wheelchair-bound teacher their active shooter plan
Marissa Schimmoeller, a ninth and tenth grade English teacher at Delphos Jefferson High School in Delphos, Ohio, was dreading having to face her students the day after the Parkland, Florida, school shooting. Many teachers across the country shared the same worries of addressing an active shooter plan, but for Schimmoeller, who is wheelchair-bound due to cerebral palsy, …
