Family values

This is the kind of thing that happens when gays and lesbians are allowed to adopt children.

Some things we know for sure — a little boy dealt a seemingly impossible hand, the two gay men who decided to give him a home and a life, the unlikely spell cast by the only horse in Montclair.

Beyond that, well, it was what you could never quite know as much as what you could that drew 500 people, friends and strangers, to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Saturday to ponder the lesson in grace and resilience, the parable of good lives and deeds outside the prescribed lines, in the remarkably long and way-too-short life of Maurice Mannion-Vanover, dead at the age of 20 on Jan. 14.

Few people begin life with so many strikes against them as Maurice had when he was born with AIDS on Sept. 11, 1990, to a crack-addicted mother in a hospital in Washington. There were physical and developmental issues severe enough that his twin sister, Michelle Reed, lived only 20 months. Deserted by his parents, he got his first break in 1993 when two men, intent on caring for a baby with serious physical needs, agreed to take him in.

Isn't it wonderful?

(One of Maurice's fathers works for the Episcopal Church Medical Trust.)

h/t to An Inch at a Time

Posted by Jim Naughton on January 24, 2011 4:11 PM | |
Comments (3)

What a lovely story. Maurice's was a beautiful life. I urge everyone to read the article to the end.

June Butler

Posted by GrandmèreMimi [TypeKey Profile Page] | January 24, 2011 4:42 PM

Maurice was my godson. He stood up at his baptism and answered all the questions himself. I will forever regret that I didn't spend enough time with him; he was a good and holy human being with good and holy adoptive and church families.

Please sign your name next time. Thx ~ed.

Posted by me.yahoo.com/a/VyGYOh0NrfuwmvYV4YjASh5fuayCng-- [TypeKey Profile Page] | January 24, 2011 5:20 PM

This is how I define family values. Beautiful. Amazing. I cried at "You can do better." How true.

Posted by Lois Keen [TypeKey Profile Page] | January 24, 2011 5:42 PM

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