Rockin' Recipient Bethany and her BFF Grace have known each other since they were 7 years old and are now attending the University of Toledo together. Bethany's mom told me that she never worried about Bethany when they were together and when I asked Grace about their life-long friendship she had this to say: "Bethany [...]
"The only way to have friends is to be one." -Ralph Waldo Emerson One of my biggest fears for Ruby, when she was born, wasn’t about her learning abilities or even her capabilities… My greatest fear was her not being able to build meaningful, life-long friendships. Equal friendships that matter. Was she going to fit [...]
"I am valuable because I exist. Not because of what I do or what I have done. I am not a burden to society — My life is worth living with respect and dignity. I am a self-advocate speaker so that others may understand. I am a person. I am Emmanuel Joseph Bishop." Oh my [...]
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt As we come into the last week of our #RubyAndNellaRockTheFuture adventures, I hope you have all been inspired by imagining the possibilities of the future with us. I hope you see the potential of these two little girls who [...]
"You go first..." "No...YOU go first." Trying new things is what helps us all grow and learn and these lil' ladies are most of the time up for the challenge of dipping their toes in and sometimes going full on cannonball style into new experiences. *These swim caps though* Jump on in ladies! The world [...]
Annemarie Carrigan definitely dove head first into college life at the University of Central Missouri's THRIVE Program. This is her second year and she just wrote an article for the their college newspaper. Her mom said: We had no idea that she was writing this article on “How she got to the Thrive Program”. She [...]
“True love does not come by finding the perfect person, true love comes by learning to see an imperfect person, perfectly.” – Jason Jordan Oh, there are so many emotions this image pulls up for this mama. We all dream of our little girls growing up one-day gaining independence and finding their own way. We [...]
"Ruby, You should have taken a left turn in Albuquerque!" These girls are ready for their nationwide tour...well, maybe in 10 or so more years, so watch out world!! Driving and navigating public transportation is a HUGE step toward living a more independent life. I know I went screeching out of the driveway the day [...]
"Haven't you heard, 'Brows are the new Black', Nella." They say that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and I believe that even more now then I did before I had Ruby. I get the incredible opportunity to see life through her lens...and there is a reason why we are tagged #theluckyfew. There [...]
"Dude, be careful. You might pull a hammy." Did you know that people with Down syndrome are some amazing athletes? What makes it even cooler and more inspiring is what they have to overcome to do things some of us might find easy. Because of lower muscle tone, they have to work a little harder [...]
