DEMOREST – For almost a year, William Wells and his mother Judy have had to visit William’s girlfriend through the outside window of Habersham Home West.
William, 37, was born with Down syndrome and met Kayla about a year after his previous girlfriend Shelly, who also suffered from Down syndrome and heart complications, did not awaken from surgery.
William and Kayla’s love story started a little over four years ago when William went to the nursing home with his mother to see a patient.
When they arrived, Kayla was sitting in the lobby and started talking to William. Since that time, William and Kayla have talked every time he and his mother visited the nursing home. Those impromptu trips transitioned to planned, regular visits for William and Kayla so the pair could spend time together.
Before COVID, Judy took William to visit Kayla three to four times a week and they would visit and also attend the parties, play Bingo and enjoy other activities at the nursing home.
All that changed with the pandemic, altering their visits drastically.
Though the visits are much different now, William and Judy still go several times a week for visits. Since William is not a big talker on the phone, Kayla does most of the chatting while William listens.
At the window visits, William and Judy decorate the outside for each season and each holiday to bring a little joy into Kayla’s room.
While William reminds his mother daily that Shelly is saving him a seat next to her in heaven when he is ready, he in turn plans to save a seat next to him for Kayla.
