She needed me and I needed her

Nurse Sara Gibbs was supposed to be off duty one night 18 years ago, but she was unexpectedly called to work at the hospital in Corinth, MS. That was the night first responders found a baby abandoned outside a doctor's office next to the hospital. Sara knew the baby was newborn "because she still had a little blood in her hair." The nursing supervisor encouraged Sara to take the baby home, but Sara objected. "What am I going to do with a baby?" she asked. "I work a 12-hour night shift, and I don't have a husband." But a few hours later, her maternal instinct kicked in and the baby, named Janessa, had a new mom -- Sara.

"I feel like it was divine intervention," says Sara, "because I wasn't even supposed to be there." Nearly two decades of memories in their baby book prove these two were put in each other's lives for a reason.

Sara and Janessa

"I wanted to be the one to teach her and mold her," said Sara. "I'm just glad I had the means and the resources to afford the opportunities for her to take dance and do gymnastics. I'm proud to have done these things for her." But Sara did even more. Last fall, she sent Janessa off to college. 

How does Janessa feel about her birth mother? "When I think of my birth mom, it makes me feel sad sometimes. I don't think she dropped me off because she didn't want me, but because she couldn't take care of me."

Maybe that's why Janessa calls Sara "the best mom ever." She feels their bond will only grow stronger after 18 years they'll never forget.  "She's always been my mom," says Janessa. "I think she made a good decision, because she needed me and I needed her."