When 42-year-old Melissa (Missy) Armstrong of Milan, Ill., found out that her best friend Sara might not live to spend Christmas with her three kids, she offered to fulfill Sara’s last wish.
"(Sara) said she can deal with the fact that she's dying, but she can't deal with the fact that her kids will be split," Armstrong told WQAD.
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After being diagnosed with brain cancer in 2010 and is now currently in the hospice for ALS, 36-year-old Sara (Armstrong did not give Sara's last name) knew that her days were numbered. Armstrong offered to adopt her three children, Cayden, 11, Micah, 9, and Amara, 8.
They deserve it, they really do. It's been a rough road.
"She just balled and was like are you kidding me and she said 'you swear' and I said 'yeah,'" Armstrong said.
The pair began a friendship almost 20 years ago after meeting in cosmetology school. For Armstrong, the decision was a no brainer.
"They deserve it, they really do. It's been a rough road," she said.
Now other friends are doing their part to chip in to make Christmas special for Sara’s kids. Friend Rhonda Debruyn took to Facebook asking for Christmas gifts.
Embedded content: https://www.facebook.com/Sass4/posts/10154670603826427
“My main focus was to make sure that the kids had a good Christmas because I’m not sure that Sara was going to be here,” Debruyn told WQAD.
An account has also been set up in Armstrong's name and friends are also hosting a benefit in January to help with financial expenses.
Right now everyone is waiting patiently hoping for a Christmas miracle. It would be awesome for Sara to be able to spend the holidays with her children. We reached to Missy to follow up on her interview with WQAD. There’s no word on Sara’s condition, but she did say that the kids are doing well.
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With two children of her own and a 2-year-old granddaughter to take care of as well, Missy told Mom.me that she wouldn’t have it any other way. She says that the children's dad is out of the picture, and Sara has an amazing family, but they wouldn't have been able to keep the kids together.
According to the Daily Mail, Armstrong's friends are hoping to get enough donations so that they can buy a larger home for her growing family.
