As a result of her passing, we will love, protect and treasure Jake just as we promised," the teacher said.
Not all superheroes wear capes but many of them save lives. Kerry Bremer, a school teacher in Massachusetts adopted Jake, a child with Down Syndrome after his mother died. When Jean Manning moved from Florida to Massachusetts with her son Jake to get better medical treatment for her terminal breast cancer, the family did not know how their lives would change.
A GoFundMe set up to support Jake reads that "as a single mom, when she first was diagnosed with cancer and realizing she had no family that would have the ability to care for Jake, Jeanie set out to search for an alternative caregiver in case the inevitable did happen. It was the bravest thing I have ever witnessed another person having to do, and as a parent myself could not imagine having to undertake this task."
Soon, Jake began attending a school where he quickly bonded with his new teacher, Kerry. The teacher told WCVB, “I fell in love with him instantly." Kerry found out Jake's mother, Jean Manning was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. "As she got sicker that year, I just thought, 'What is she going to do?'" Kerry said. Then, she came up with a plan and discussed it with her husband. She told Manning, “If you need a backup plan for Jake, then our family is happy to make him part of our family.” Kerry added, “She said, ‘I’ll sleep better tonight than I have in a long time.'”
According to ABC, Jake spent the next couple of years, getting to know Kerry and her family. He also shared weekends and holidays with them. Her children, Kaitlyn, Kristen, and Jonathan quickly embraced Jake's joyful nature, along with her husband, Dave. "When I first met him, when he was back in Kerry's class, it was fun," Dave Bremer told WCVB-TV. “But when we first decided to do this and I met him again, he said, ‘You’re the dad? You’re Dave the dad?’ That was it for a very long time. I was Dave the dad,” Dave said.
One day, Jean put Jake on the school bus and went inside to take a nap, and never woke up. Kerry wrote, "Jeannie Manning became a 'Queen Angel.' She fought a long, hard, and often very unfair battle with cancer... As a result of her passing, we will love, protect and treasure Jake just as we promised." She added, "He will live with us forever and we will keep her memory, her love, her determination, and her beautiful smile alive in his heart and ours every day! We love you 'Queen Angel Mom.' Fly high and watch over us every day."
Kerry knew what had to be done now. She and her family officially took Jake into their family and would raise him as one of their own. "My mom went to heaven," Jake said. "She's always in my heart." Kerry added, "We shared our boy and she will live on here in this house."
References:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/teacher-family-student-mother-dies-cancer/story?id=67212319
https://www.gofundme.com/f/memorial-for-jeanie-to-benefit-jake
Cover Image Source: GoFundMe
