When Ann was 16 years old and still in this institution for the retarded children, she had started a work program where she was able to leave the grounds and go to work each day. In time, Ann took the opportunity to run away from the institution. Ann survived on the streets, until one day she went to a convent of nuns and told them she was 18 looking for a job. The nuns told her she could help clean rooms in their retreat house, and she would get in return a bed to sleep in and food to eat and a small income of 50 dollars a week. To Ann at sixteen, this was great! Ann worked very hard and remained with them until she was 23 years old. She then met her husband who and soon had a daughter. Ann returned back to school and got her High school diploma. Ann soon was introduced to a wonderful group of people where she learned about God and truly got to understand what God was all about how much he truly loved her. She was so inspired and felt such love for her heavenly Father; she became a Minister of God.
Ann was on top of the world because she knew she had God’s blessings and was able to see that she was truly loved. Ann’s attitude was always positive and hopeful. She never gave up. Ann’s happiness and trust in God would be tested severely. In 1990, Ann contracted encephalitis from a mosquito carrying the Saint Louis encephalitis. Ann became very sick and was taken to intensive care unit at the local hospital. She thought this would be her end. She and her family prayed to God over and over again. There was even a 23 year old next to her dying of the same illness. She wondered if she would be next. Before we go any further, I would like to tell you that Ann’s family at this time consisted of her 16 year old daughter and her congregation of brothers and sisters. You see, Ann’s husband had left her to move on to other younger and non-disabled women. Ann though never gave up. She raised her daughter by herself by cleaning other people’s homes and put herself through two years of college to become a Medical Transcriptionist.
