Abby Talks Work, Sports – and her Best Friend Tom

Abby Talks Work, Sports – and her Best Friend Tom
“We went to daycare together…”

The phone rings as Abby takes off her coat. “Hello, The Arc Eastern Connecticut….”

Abby, 34, really likes her job. She enjoys meeting people, helping people, dispensing with email inquiries. The Arc Eastern Connecticut’s Danielson receptionist has been on the job 14 years. Abby lives nearby in her own apartment with a rescue cat named Daisy. “Her name was Maureen.” Abby laughs. “If I’m going to adopt you, your name is going to be Daisy!”

Abby loves visiting friends and spends a lot of time with her mother Mary Ellen, who adopted Abby from El Salvador at 5 ½ months old. “She’s always calling: ‘Can you come over and help me with this?’ And I am, like, ‘Of course!’”

Helpfulness has its advantages. Last October, Mary Ellen surprised Abby with a free trip to Kauai, Hawaii. “I got to tour the island, see the lighthouse and all the chickens, roosters and cats running around. I got to see a monk seal for the first time.” Abby also collected four or five jars of sea glass. “My mom’s friend knows a good spot to find it!”

Soccer, softball, snowshoeing, bocce, bowling, spirit squad – Abby loves them all. Bowling is her favorite. Recently, she bowled in Seattle, representing Connecticut in the Special Olympics USA Games. Abby won a silver medal in singles competition, a gold in teams, and she came in fourth in doubles. A member of the Hale YMCA in Putnam, she attends spin and Zumba classes.

Abby also goes to Point Breeze in Webster once a month where a DJ named Tom hosts a dance for people with special needs. Tom is Abby’s best friend. Married with a wife and small daughter, Tom teaches in a local public school.

“We went to daycare together,” Abby explains, “and then out of the blue one day, he decided he was going to bite the people he liked. I was one of his victims! And then his mom and my mom became friends.” Abby allows that Tom doesn’t bite anymore. Nowadays, he entertains excuses about lost homework.

“He says the one he gets the most is, ‘The dog ate it!’”

Kathleen Stauffer is chief executive officer of The Arc Eastern Connecticut. For information on The Arc, go to www.thearcnlc.org and www.qvarc.org. For more articles by this author visit www.kathleenstauffer.com

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