“Do you ever get tired of hearing people ask you how you do it?” another special needs mom recently asked me. I do, but I also know that people don’t necessarily mean anything negative by it. They’re genuinely wondering how, as a working mom of two kids including one with special needs, I manage to juggle it all. That’s exactly what I wondered about an extraordinary couple I recently read about.
There are 11,000 children in state custody in Oklahoma. The 100 of them who have special needs are least likely to find home, and typically end up living in long-term hospitals or residential facilities. Misty Marksberry and partner Laura Merideth adopted one of those children, a little girl with a seizure disorder name Anastayja. Last December, she died. “Before she passed we promised her that her legacy would continue and that we would forever take care of kids like her,” Marksberry said.
And so they have, as recently reported by Fox 25 News. The couple went through special medical training, named their home Annie’s House and now foster six children, all of whom have intensive special needs. Marksberry stays home to care for them; she has even sewn feeding tubes onto dolls, so the children can see dolls who are like them. The couple are planning to adopt four-year-old Zamaria, who was epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and medical issues. They plan to adopt all the kids they foster if their parents no longer have rights. And they would like to expand Annie’s House, moving into a larger home with more space and getting a van to fit lots of wheelchairs and equipment.
Kids with special needs thrive in a home in a family-like setting, experts agree. This couple is giving these children a chance at life. As Marksberry said, “We want to give them every opportunity to be a child like any other.”
If you’d like donate to Annie’s House, click here.
From my other blog:
20 reasons to respect my child with special needs
A trend that will change our kids’ future: 3D printing
Disability rip-offs: You want me to pay 30 bucks for a spoon?
Image: Screen grab/Fox 25 video