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Jean: After Brooke returned to school in the eighth grade, both Ed and I felt that if she got through high school and did all right, she would wind up at the state university at Stony Brook. But one day Brooke asked me, "What would you think if I said I wanted to go away to school?""How could we do that, sweetheart?" I said. "We can't even get nurses here at home. How would we do it if you were away? Where would you want to go?"
"Maybe an Ivy League school."
"An Ivy League school!" I said in disbelief. "You know Dad and I can't afford that."
"Can't we just check it out and see what happens?"
"We'll see," I said.
Ed and I talked about it, and agreed there was no harm in Brooke's applying. She decided she would try for early admission at Harvard.
Brooke and I put together the application package and gave it to the guidance counselor.
"Do you think I have a chance?" Brooke asked him.
"As good as anybody else," he said. He added to the application package her transcript and letters of recommendation. One of the letters was a glowing endorsement from Mrs. Krieger. From her initial skepticism, the research teacher had become one of Brooke's biggest advocates.
With the application out of our hands, there was nothing more to do. One thing was sure: I had made a commitment early on after Brooke's accident that if I couldn't change her physical situation, I would do everything in my power to improve her life. No matter what it took.
Brooke: December 15 was the date early decisions were due. I decided to call the admissions office at Harvard to find out.
In the school nurse's office my mother dialed the number and held the phone to my ear. After verifying some identifying information, the admissions officer said, "Welcome to the Harvard class of 2000, Brooke. Congratulations."
My mother and I both began to cry. I couldn't believe what had happened. I felt that my acceptance was a recognition of all the hard work that we had done over the past six years.
Jean: Brooke immediately called Ed at work so he was the next one to know. He was thrilled, but, like me, staggered by the thought of how we would manage it.
After hanging up, Brooke and I took off for class. When we entered the research room, Mrs. Krieger shouted, "Well, did you call?"
Brooke had a huge smile on her face and didn't need to say a word. Mrs. Krieger ran across the room and gave her a big kiss on the forehead. "Congratulations! You're Harvard bound," she said with certainty.
"Well, I don't know if we're going to be able to do it ..." I began, but Mrs. Krieger, assuming my role for a moment, said, "She can do anything."
Brooke: I had to let Harvard know if I was coming. They offered me financial aid, but I still wondered if I could really do it.
My brother, Reed, said I should go. Kysten was less enthusiastic and maybe the most honest. She couldn't understand why I wanted to be away from home, especially with my circumstances. I think she thought I was a little crazy. The idea occurred to me that maybe she was right.
We took a trip up to Cambridge to look at the campus and meet with administrators. To every one of the concerns on our list -- transportation, extra-large room, wheelchair-accessible bathroom, and even Mom living with me -- the administrators said, "We can do that." They actually seemed excited by the prospect of having me as a student.
Although I didn't want to separate my family, I wanted to go so much, to maximize my potential as my parents had always told me to do.
Ironically, in the end, it was the naysayers who pushed me the most. Despite my A-plus average and 1510 on my SATs, some people thought I was selected only because I was in a wheelchair. They thought I wouldn't succeed if I went.
I felt that these people didn't really know me, but were speaking from some uninformed prejudice. I felt they needed to be educated. So I decided I would go to Harvard, to learn and perhaps to teach.
Today Brooke speaks to high school students and other groups, and has plans to attend graduate school. "Miracles happen," she says. "They have happened to me, and they are happening to you. You need only look at the people in your lives to see them."
From Reader's Digest - January 2002
"The Brooke Ellison Story: One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey," (Previously Published as "Miracles Happen"), Copyright ©2001 By Brooke Ellison and Jean Ellison, is published in paperback at $12.95 by Hyperion, 77 W. 66 St., New York, N.Y. 10023.
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