The students sat in the darkened auditorium at Manchester High School, chatting with friends during their last class of the day.
They were waiting Thursday for what they thought was a video conference via satellite with a woman they knew only through letters and an HBO documentary.
The students are in the school's Success Program, which mentors students who need guidance upon entering high school. The voluntary program, offered in Chesterfield County at Manchester and L.C. Bird high schools, teaches life skills and helps students with academics.
Every year, these students watch the documentary "My Flesh and Blood," about a woman in California who adopted 11 children, all of whom had special needs. The woman, Susan Tom, already had two biological sons.
The documentary follows the Tom family for one year and takes viewers into the lives of families with special-needs children.
In 2003, Success Program students started corresponding with Tom. They decided to raise money for the family for Christmas. That year, they raised $2,000 and sent the family presents.
They had never met this woman.
On Thursday afternoon, Kristin Breslin, Success Program coordinator at Manchester, made her way onto the stage and quieted her students. She had good news and bad news.
The bad news was that the satellite feed wasn't working.
A collective groan rose from the student body.
But, Breslin said, there was somebody waiting to talk to them that might help.
Silence filled the big room.
Then came the anxious whispers: "Oh, my gosh!"
"She came?"
"Is Mrs. Tom here?"
From behind big black curtains walked Susan Tom. The room exploded with cheers and whistles. Students gave her a standing ovation.
Tom had come to thank them for their support. She talked to them about respect and choices, finishing quickly so she could answer the many questions they had for her.
The students asked about her children by name. How did she deal with so many disabilities? Why did she decide to do the documentary? Why did she adopt so many children? How does she pay for their needs? Does she ever feel like giving up?
Tom patiently answered every question, no matter how personal. Six of the children -- all teenage girls -- still live with her, so she shared a lot of stories of teenage female drama.
"I wasn't on a mission," she said. "These were choices I made in my life. I did the best I could do."
Over the years, three of her children died from their disabilities, which included skin diseases, cystic fibrosis and spina bifida. Two of her current children were born without legs. Their ages range from 14 to 34.
"Until you are faced with a crisis, you often don't know what's inside you," said Tom, who visited Bird students yesterday, for a similar surprise meeting.
"You cannot ride an inner tube down the river of life," she said. "It's not smooth sailing. Some of you already know that. But it doesn't have to be that way."
Contact Holly Prestidge at (804) 649-6945 or hprestidge@timesdispatch.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement