For the Sake of Love

The love of one Triad family gives them the strength to do the unimaginable.

A mother's love is credited for nurturing children and for keeping the family together. But one Triad mother loved her family so much she welcomed in a third party to help her daughter. Nancy Grantham is the mother of Anne Stuart, a 25-year-old challenged by Rett Syndrome. It is a neuro-developmental disorder that almost exclusively affects girls. It is characterized by normal early growth and development followed by a slowing of development, loss of purposeful use of the hands, distinctive hand movements, slowed brain and head growth, problems with walking, seizures, and intellectual disability. According to Grantham, support from family and friends is vital when raising a child with a physical and or mental challenge.

Anne Stuart currently lives at Horizons Residential Care Center in Rural Hall. The staff specializes in the care of youth, teens and young adults challenged by severe physical disorders.

She has friends and lights up when her younger brother, 23-year-old Will Grantham, visit her. In this segment of Real People, Real Stories, guest commentator Grantham describes the difficulty of entrusting someone else with her daughter's care.