The picture is an exact image of how we feel about our daughter MaryKate, she is literally the center of our life. We got MaryKate on a cool December day in 1996. She had fire engine red hair, was less than 4 pounds and had lungs that could wake the dead. It was love at first sight. We received a call from DFS Social Services that they needed to place a preemie baby in foster care. We said “of course,” and an hour later we meet our daughter for the first time. We weren’t sure what life had in store for us; if it was going to be a few months or forever. MaryKate was so tiny and though, we didn’t know it then but we would discover she had several disabilities, both mentally and physically. Our daughter’s strength is awe inspiring as she has tackled one hurdle after another, letting nothing slow her down. MaryKate has had some terrible trials to overcome, the worst being a brain tumor in 2015. We were terrified and heartbroken to be so helpless as she battled her biggest obstacle yet. Her recovery was nothing short of a miracle. The tumor was benign and through a determination that is typical of MaryKate, she was up riding horses 3 months later. Our daughter is a Special Olympics athlete, a horse rider, the funniest person anyone could ever meet and a bit ornery at times ….. she is simply amazing. MaryKate is 23 now and has no intentions of slowing down. She just won 3 gold medals in Casper for the state Special Olympics and rides horses at least once a week, rain or shine. She is the single best decision we’ve ever made. For those scared to foster/adopt disabled children, we promise it will change your life in a way you can’t imagine. We know no better person than our daughter and wouldn’t change a thing about her or how she came to us. We’re just glad she did.
