15-Year-Old and Disabled Mom: We'd Never Change Anything

Friday on NPR's StoryCorps, an interview series that aims to "provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share and preserve the stories of our lives," there's the story of a mother and daughter's relationship so touching that even the seasoned host of the program became choked up after hearing it. 

In the full interview, mom Bonnie Brown and 15-year-old Myra reflect upon the role of Bonnie's intellectual disability in their lives and the mutual love and appreciation that ultimately define their relationship.

When Bonnie Brown was pregnant with her daughter, Myra, she says she felt a mix of joy and anxiety.

"I hadn't ever been pregnant before," she says. "I never had really an idea of how to take care of a baby."

Brown, who is intellectually disabled, works at Wendy's while raising Myra as a single mom. Despite her disability, she says she never felt like her daughter was too much to handle.

"I think because I'm different it might seem hard for me, but I was going to give it all I got no matter what," she tells Myra, now 15, during a visit to StoryCorps.

Myra says she never realized her mom was "different," until she told her.

"I said to you, 'Myra, I know I am not like your friends' mothers, but I'm doing the best I can.' And you said, 'It's OK, Mommy,' " Brown recounts. "And that made me feel so good."

Listen to the entire interview at NPR.

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