Together

On November 1, 2003 we moved into our home. We were so very excited to finally have a place to call our own!

Joey was working at an insurance company and I was working as a teachers aid at a school for children with mental health issues. We really didn't get to see each other very often because I had daytime hours and Joey worked until 11 at night. But we enjoyed our weekends together.

The first year of our marriage was definitely not easy. Neither of us had ever owned a home before, so we didn't know what we were doing and Joey had always lived with his family so he was trying to get used to the idea of not being around them all the time.

Over the next few years Joey had bouts of sickness that had him in and out of the hospital but we always made it through. Unfortunately he was unable to stay employed at the insurance agency. They were not very understanding about his disability and it was a very uncomfortable work environment.

Joey would eventually get involved with a wheelchair basketball team and he loved it! Before his accident basketball was his thing. He became the vice president of the team and did what ever he could to help support the cause and spread the word.

In September of 2007 Joey got an amazing job as an advocate for people with disabilities. He truly loved this job and was great at it! We were finally on our way to really living life! We were both bringing home a pay check and even got back to school. We were really feeling good about life.