ANGELA RICHEY: Angela's Growing Up

Angela Richey

Angela was diagnosed with Cri du Chat in 1986. The journey has been incredible as we have learned about the challenges that came with Angela's birth. We learned that it was through unconditional love that she would learn, grow, and thrive and teach us what is really important - Love!

Her siblings deserve a great deal of credit for her progress as well as her happiness. Angela loves life and all it has to offer. She is always looking for things to do and ways to encourage others to do the same. We hope that her website helps families find hope to carry on.

Angela has had challenges with her vision, and just recently was able to adjust to soft contact lenses. She loves her new freedom and sees so much better. It has been a real blessing for her. She has also had challenges with her teeth over the years. Her dentist has been helping her so much and recently completed her bridgework. We are always learning more than we thought possible how to help Angela.

HI EVERYONE!! I am ANGELA RICHEY. I was born in 1986 and weighed 8 lbs and 2 ounces, was 20.50 inches long, and was a full-term baby. Before I was sent home, my mom suspected that there was a problem. Sure enough, testing was done on me and my parents because at birth I had skin tags, simian creases, cortical thumbs, low muscle tone, and an unusual cry. My parents soon found out that I was a member of a very exclusive group called Cri du Chat. They were told lots of scary things that made my mom cry. My mom didn’t think she would every smile again. The doctors told them that I would never walk or talk and would probably have to be in an institution. WELL, WERE THEY WRONG!! One part of my 5th chromosome was missing. The deletion was the distal half of the short arm. The doctors indicated that there was no evidence in my parents' test results, and that it was an unexplainable event that had occurred. With lots of love and help from my family, I can do many things and I am very happy! And just so you know, life is really good and I make my mom and dad laugh and smile ALL the time.

Let me introduce you to my family. I live at home with my mom and my dad , Stephen & Georgia Richey. I have two sisters, Natalie & Joanne, & five brothers - Carl, Keith, Craig and Ken (fraternal twins), and Ben who are all married. My brothers and sisters are so awesome. I was the last one to be born, so I am very lucky to have had lots of help from all of them. They have taught me so many things and I love them so much. They love me no matter what!! I am an aunt to 29 nieces and nephews and I have a great niece and two great nephews with a great niece due very soon. They are wonderful and they teach me so much.

I love all the children and the families that I meet at the 5P- Conferences. My three most favorite things at the conferences are swimming, dancing, and seeing the cute boys. I hope you get to come to the conferences where you will learn so much from the other families ! I love you all!! Bye now. Catch you later!!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Angela's Growing Up

I just wanted to post a pretty picture of Angela taken in our backyard. She looks so pretty and I wanted to share it. Here she is at almost 22. We can't believe how old she is getting. When she has a bad day, she says "I must be getting old!" She is a real crack-up!

3 comments:

Joanne said...: Wow! What a pretty picture! That's probably the best one I've ever seen of her. Can you email me a copy of it? She is getting older! haha; July 31, 2008 at 9:17 PM
HappyHodges said...: Hello Angela and Georgia! It is Mindy Hodges (Adams wife). I came across your blog and was so excited to see and read how great you are going. It has been quite awhile since I have seen you and wow Angela you look beautiful and we are happy to see you are having fun and enjoying life. We do get updates on you and your family every now and then from Grandma Yvonne, but hope we can see you soon!
www.happyhodges.blogspot.com; August 8, 2008 at 3:21 PM
Bonnie said...: What a gorgeous picture of Angela! The Richey family is so lucky to have such an amazing lady in their lives! ;) I love every moment I spend with Angela. Every time you let her come over and hang out with me we have so much fun and she just makes my week so much better. We all are so lucky to have such an amazing woman in our lives! Thank you Angela for being there for us!
Love,
Bonnie; December 21, 2014 at 7:17 PM

Five P Minus / Cri du Chat

We have two websites you can visit about Cri du Chat- The first is: http://www.fivepminus.org/ There are many beautiful children and wonderful stories that you can read about here. We want to bring hope to the families of our special children. The second website you can visit is www.criduchat.org Here you can view the new video entitled "I Can" under the Media tab. This video was created to help end the outdated misinformation given to families of these special children. If you wish to help these families, your donations will help the children at conferences with newsletters as well as raise awareness about Cri du Chat.

Thank You - Angela & Georgia Richey