Joy Hickman

"Austin being born and watching him grow up has shaped me into a more caring and understanding person. I think it's because I nannied him and had to be so patient with him. He struggled a lot as a baby because of cleft and it's really humbling being part of a special kids like and watching a kid grow up. I just learned that like.. everyone is a person that someone else really cares about even if it's not someone who's family. If anyone was mean to my Austin I think I would snap, so I think about that a lot when I engage with other people. I realize that everyone has had challenges I may not know about (his cleft is hard to see now, so some people don't even realize he'd been through three surgeries by the age of one) and you just have to have patience and be kind."