Wildflower - Accepting help doesn’t make you helpless

Bea is born to parents Sharon and Derek, who both are intellectually disabled. Bea’s grandparents initially did not approve of their wedding and their plan to raise their own daughter, because they were incapable of taking care of themselves. In the summer, Bea is sent to live with Sharon’s sister’s family. She acts weird, because she has not really lived like other normal children. She is not self-disciplined and she has not acquired proper life skills. Her sister decides to sponsor her to study at a private school. This is when she starts to have a normal life. Nia is her best friend, whom Bea can confide everything to. She also meets Ethan, who eventually falls in love with him. Ethan had cancer before but he has recovered. Some of her classmates are not that nice. When they know her parents are disabled, they keep teasing her. Bea has accepted the fact that her family is just different, so she will just ignore them. Despite all the challenges, Bea thrives. She is doing well at school and she has boyfriends. After school, she has to work part-time to earn extra to support her family.

Bea is about to graduate from high school and must decide what to do next. She wants to attend a local community college so that she can take care of her parents and save money. Her teacher does not think this is a wise decision given her excellent academic performance. He suggests that she find a sponsor to pay for her college tuition. However, Bea does not want to be a charity case anymore. She already feels indebted to her aunt's family.

She originally didn’t want to go to high school prom, but Ethan wants her to go with him. She has been saving money to buy a dress for that night. Nia thought Bea would ditch the prom with her, so she didn’t find a date. Nia feels like Bea has been pushing her around to do stuff. She is so sick of it, so she runs away. She receives a call from the police one day to bail her parents out, because her mum has been selling alcohol to minors. She has to use the money she has been saving to bail them out. She is devastated and complains they have not been good parents. She hates that her father always tries to sugar-coat their disability with being special. Her father can’t put up with her, so he slaps her. She regrets saying that afterwards.

Bea tells Ethan that she is not going to college because she needs to take care of her family. Ethan thinks she is wasting her talent. Though Ethan still has no idea what to do next, he has fought very hard to become who he is today. He hates seeing others not treasuring their time and talent, so he leaves. Feeling dejected, Bea drinks and still goes out to sell her girl scouts ticket in the hope of winning the disney ticket. She gets drunk and accidentally tips over and has her head hit. She has lost consciousness, but her friends just place her outside the hospital and flee.

Bea had been in a coma for some time. Her parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, ex-boyfriend, and best friend had come to visit her. Her social worker had been talking to them to learn more about her life. Bea finally woke up, and her friends and family were relieved to see her awake. The social worker later told her that her family was definitely not the strangest family she had ever seen.

Bea realized that it was time to focus on her own needs and desires instead of constantly worrying about others. She knew that her parents were capable of taking care of themselves, as they had done before she was born. Bea also reconciled with her siblings, Nia and Ethan. Finally, Bea decided to pursue her own dream of going to college.

No one likes being disabled or living with disabled, but it is not something we can choose. This is life, and we have to deal with it.