Once a teacher, always a teacher

There's a 30-year-old man in Waco, Texas, named Chris Barrington. He has a lot of special needs. He still functions on a 6th grade level, and his home life has never been great. The only person who took care of him was his father, who died recently. Police recently found Chris wandering down a highway all alone. When they asked him for family information, one of the names he gave them was Michell Girard, a teacher he has not talked to for many years.

He was her student for four years of junior high, and he never forgot how nice she was. So the police talked to her, and she agreed to take him in until other arrangements could be made. But then she learned he'd probably end up in an institution, so she just filed paperwork to take permanent custody of him. She learned he'd never had a birthday, so she just threw him his first birthday party, with his own cake, and she says the rest of the year will be all about new experiences.