I had a friend named Ted who was our paperboy for as long as I could remember. He had Down Syndrome (no, we didn't know he had a "syndrome"). We all loved him in our neighborhood and he played ball with us, went to all our little league and peewee games and cheered for us. He was in his twenties as well. I've also had the fortune of being friends with many other developmentally "challenged" people (euphemisms R us), like my friend Tom who has MS (he's 45 now), Dan (who has Down and is blind) in college, Howie, the guy attached to the police band radio who's brother and I and him got into massive amounts of trouble... actually, it's a very long list for me. And I've learned a lot from all of them.

Maybe God (I'm agnostic - it's possible), placed this girl in my care because of my past with people who are different. We all have a contribution to make, ALL of us.