Giving Hope Foundation
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9400 W. 650 S
Pendleton, IN
46064
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Founder’s Story
My name is Joe Shetterley. More than two decades ago when my wife Lisa and I found out we were pregnant for the second time, my heart skipped a beat. I already had a wonderfully funny and energetic 2-year-old son, Gabriel. Imagine my joy to learn that we were about to have a baby girl. We would name her Hanna. Like most fathers, I dreamt of her in little pigtails, watching her grow into a star athlete like her mommy, and eventually having the honor of walking her down the aisle. But before her second birthday, it became apparent those dreams would start to shift.
I vividly remember the day the doctor told us Hanna's diagnosis—autism and mild mental retardation.
If the doctor had stabbed me directly in my heart, it would have hurt less. As I sat and watched the confusion and pain on my wife's face, I began to feel as though I wasn't in my own body anymore. It was surreal. I know now that was my brain's way of dealing with the pain at the moment.
But as those moments turned into days, I did not go back to embrace reality. Instead, I embraced denial and lost myself in my work. One of my deepest regrets is allowing Lisa to face those early challenges alone. The reality of Hanna’s condition really hit home when our family took a vacation to the beach. Again, I dreamt of the way I wanted it to be, how it should be. But as you can imagine, if your child has been diagnosed with any neurological or cerebral disorder, the way you want things to be and the way they are often are very different. While other children were squealing with glee as they built sandcastles and chased waves, my Hanna was eating sand and crying endlessly for no apparent reason. She would stare off into space for long periods of time. I can't adequately articulate the pain all of this caused me. So much so, I ended our vacation early.
