At seventy-three, a widowed woman expected her life to fade quietly into routine until she learned about an abandoned newborn with Down syndrome at a local shelter. Acting on impulse and compassion, she adopted the baby girl, Clara, despite protests from her adult sons and neighbors who doubted her ability to raise a child at her age. Holding Clara rekindled her sense of purpose and replaced grief with love.
Soon after, a team of lawyers arrived at her modest home with shocking news: Clara’s biological parents, wealthy tech founders, had died in a fire, leaving their infant daughter a vast inheritance. The grandmother was offered a mansion and staff, but she refused the luxury and insisted on selling everything. With the proceeds, she created two legacies — The Clara Foundation to support children with Down syndrome, and an animal sanctuary for neglected animals.