May 9, 2024 • 20 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Joel Wegener and his wife are blessed with 10 children, 2 of which were diagnosed with Down Syndrome. In his quest to find a fun way to teach them life skills, Joel happened upon the idea of running an ice cream truck. Here he is to tell the rest of the story.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we're back with our American stories. And up next,
Robbie brings us the story of Joel Wegener, an educator
and fundraiser who lives in Cincinnati, with a beautiful story
of facing the unexpected challenges life throws our way. Here's Joel.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
So. I grew up in southeast Kansas, went to college
there and became a teacher. Taught in Kansas for a
few years, then I moved to Cincinnati right after I
was married for one year. Then we moved from Cincinnati
to the Saint Louis area and took a teaching position there.
(00:56):
We stayed there about sixteen years. Many of our ten
children were born in Saint Louis area and we still
have friends back there, and one of my daughters is
also living back in that area. Then in two thousand
and two, we moved to Cincinnati. I started a fundraising
(01:16):
business and was also doing some teaching at a local
Christian school. Now, while I was in education, and then
also now that I'm doing the fundraising business, most of
my time was filled up during the school year, and
(01:36):
I had time during the summers to do other activities
and try to make a little extra money to support
my family. I've done a lot of different things in
the summers. One of the most interesting things that I
have done before the ice cream truck was I ran
a fireworks business in Missouri, tenth along Highway sixty one.
(01:59):
My children and help me do that, and we have
a lot of stories, a lot of fun, a lot
of hard work, and on a good year, made some
pretty good money doing that. I sold that business several
years ago, so over the last few years I've been
looking for something else to occupy my time. Last summer,
(02:22):
I saw an ice cream truck here locally, and that
planted a little seed in my mind of something that
I might want to do in the future. So I
put it in the back of my mind until January
of this year, and then started doing some research and
trying to find out if it was a viable business option.
(02:43):
I joined a couple of Facebook groups and was able
to find an ice cream truck in Columbus, Indiana. And
because I wasn't real sure this was going to make
a go of it, and some of my older children
were not all that supporting that. They thought it was
maybe another one of my crazy ideas, I went low budget,
(03:05):
but I founded an ice cream truck owned by some
people that have a special needs daughter and they had
used it to help raise money for her therapy as
well as give her something to do, and so we
went over and met them. They actually also have a
storefront where they sell hot dogs and other things and
employ special needs individuals, So it was really a neat
(03:27):
connection there. Once we went over there and really felt
that it was the right thing to do, that God
was directing us to that particular ice cream truck, so
we purchased it. It needed some repairs, it needed some cleaning.
We started doing that and working on that along with
my other responsibilities with the fundraising business, and on April fifteenth,
(03:53):
I set that as the deadline, not for taxes this year,
but the deadline to hit the streets with my ice
cream trucks. I found a local wholesaler, went through all
the licensing and all that, and Mary Kate, my twenty
one year old down syndrome daughter, and I went out
(04:13):
on April fifteenth for about an hour and we sold
seventy four dollars worth of ice cream, and I said,
we're on our way. And just to back up a
little bit about our family, we do have ten children
(04:35):
back in two thousand, the year two thousand, of course,
the world was shaking in their boots about y two
k that maybe all the computers were going to crash
and all that. On January first, well, we survived that.
During that time, my wife was pregnant, and in March
nineteen two thousand, my daughter, Mary Kate was born, and
(04:57):
we did not know beforehand, but soon found out that
she had down syndrome. She also had some other health issues.
I was in the hospital for about ten days, and
that was a very pivotal time in our lives, and
(05:18):
we were so fortunate to have such support from our
family and friends and church.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
But it was a change.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
We did not expect that, and we were not fully
prepared for the journey that God had chosen to place
us on. But we worked through that. We worked together,
and we were just counted Mary Kate a blessing, like
all the rest, a blessing from God. So we went
(05:49):
through that. And then we had another child, which was
a son, about a year later, and he was normal.
I guess I haven't decided if any of our kids
are totally normal. Was considered normal, and then we moved
to Cincinnati. Then when she delivered here in Cincinnati. Our
next child, it was Josh, and he also had Down
(06:12):
syndrome and had some health issues, heart issues, had to
have open heart surgery at four months, but has more
or less fully recovered from that a little heart murmur.
So we've been blessed with two Down syndrome. It's it's
been a journey, and I've told people, I'm sure my
(06:33):
wife and I are better people because of this journey
that God has placed us on with with marrying Josh.
So when Mary was born, you know, every parent when
(06:55):
a child is born, wants to say, Mom's fine, babies fine,
everything's normal. That's what you want to say. That's what
people want to hear. And so when it isn't, what
do you say? And how do you handle that? And
(07:15):
how do you still accept it and have joy in
having a new baby in your life even though it's
not the baby that you would have ordered. You know,
if you had if there was a catalog to order babies,
nobody would flip back to the Down syndrome section or
(07:35):
whatever else fill in the blank. Nobody would go back
to that section of the catalog or online, go to
that click on that tab. Now I have a high
degree of respect for people that are willing to adopt
special needs kids from other nations and all that. That's
just incredible, that process of accepting that child as yours
(08:01):
and as a blessing from God, and for others to
see it that way as well, and so that you
know that takes a process, you know, And we had
I worked at a school near Saint Louis, and the
faculty and staff were so supportive of us during that time.
Church and just family friends, and I remember my aunt
(08:24):
and uncle sent.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Me a book.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I think it's entitled Sometimes Miracles Hide. And so we
had people that just came alongside us and helped us
in that in that journey, and.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
We all know it, sometimes miracles do hide. Ten kids,
two Down syndrome children. My wife and I are better
people because of the journey with Mary, Kate and Josh.
The story of Joel Wegener continues here on our American Stories,
(09:39):
and we're back with our American Stories and the story
of Joel Wagener and Special Treats an ice cream Chuck,
Joel bought to run with his two adult children with
Down syndrome. When we last heard from Joel, he was
discussing the difficulties that often come with raising children with
special needs, but also the community that rallied around him
(10:00):
and his wife during those hard times.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Back to Joel, But it is an adjustment, and then
it's not just one time when they're born that you
have to do that. You have to continually process it,
almost more so when they get older, because when they're young,
(10:25):
even though they may have a disability, they're still cute
people still, and you go through kind of the normal
steps at a delayed rate. But then at some point,
you know, then you have to think about careers. You've
got to think about their long term care, their physical
issues that they're going to have in as an adult.
(10:46):
And then you know we're facing now you know, their
desire to get married and have children and how that
all plays out, you know, for someone with a disability.
So those are all things They're not easy, and I'm
not complaining about that. I'm just saying, hey, that's what
life is. But once you realize and make that firm
(11:08):
commitment that for some reason that we will never fully understand,
God allowed ordained however you're you want to explain it
to yourself or others for us to have Josh and
Mary in our lives, and people can talk about unconditional
(11:28):
love all they want until they've been around a down
syndrome kid, they probably haven't seen it, and.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
That's they're stubborn.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
But they also they have a very very good unconditional love.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
You know. We get so caught up and worried about all.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
These things, and sometimes it's just a reminder when all
Josh and Mary want to know is what are we
going to have for supper?
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Can we watch a video? You know?
Speaker 2 (12:00):
What are we going to do Friday night as a family?
You know, So they kind of keep us focused on
the things that really matter as opposed to all these
other little things that we're worried about. In the state
of Ohio, when they turn twenty two, they age out.
So Mary Kate will be twenty two within this school year.
(12:24):
So she was unable to continue with the public education.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
So that is a big challenge.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
For all special needs parents, is what is the next
step after being in the public education. She has often
mentioned that she would love to work with her papa
with the fundraising business. I found a few little things
periodically that she could do to help, but nothing that
I could really utilize her in a great way. So
(12:52):
as we developed this idea of the ice cream truck,
we started thinking this would be ideal to bring in
and also josh in and let them be a part
of it. We were thinking about the name for the
truck and the business, and my wife had the brilliant idea,
in my opinion, somewhat of a.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Play on words of.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Special needs, but it's special neat treats, and so that's
what we have named the truck. When we first started,
we went to neighborhood somewhat randomly, fairly close to Loveland, Ohio,
where we live. Here, there was a local magazine that
asked if they could feature us. It is also an
(13:36):
online magazine, and so this magazine came out in July,
and right after that I started getting so much attention
locally and some local TV stations to ask to do features,
and it.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Just has exploded since then.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
It's it's funny because you know, when I first had
this idea, I thought, well, you know, it'd be something,
you know, if I wanted to go out find if
I wanted to stay home.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Someday I'll see what happens.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
But now it's just taken off and the response has
been so unbelievably positive.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Seems like almost.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Every day that I go out to a neighborhood, I
meet families with special needs kids and just to be
able to share with them. They see Mary, Kate and
our Josh working with me, but just them seeing my
kids in the truck working with me gives them hope
and gives them some ideas.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Probably one of my all time.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Favorite stories that I really feel like was a turning
point in my mind as far as what the purpose
of Special Need Treats was all about. Thursday afternoon several
weeks ago, I went to a school. They were doing
a summer program for special needs kids, and so they
(15:01):
had contacted me. They had heard our story and they
went with the low budget thing, and I was fine
with that. There wasn't all that many kids, so from
a business standpoint, it wasn't a real profitable afternoon, but
I wanted to do it, and so I went out there.
They had the kids come out onto the parking lot
of the school, they got their treats. Everybody got their treats,
(15:25):
and Mary and Josh had something going on that day.
So I was by myself, but a little girl came
back up to the truck.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
I asked her name.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
She said it was Maddie. She said thanks for coming.
She said, You've made my day. So I started chatting
with her. I showed her a picture of my kids,
and she shared with me her disabilities and her diagnosis.
Had several things that she's been diagnosed with, but.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
She was very talkative.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
We just had a short little visit there and without
even premeditating or planning, and I looked at her and
I said, Maddie, I just want you to know that
God made you just like you are, and He has
a special plan for your life. And I get emotional
thinking about that moment because I was able to make
(16:17):
her day. I wasn't able to cure her autism, her
other disorders that I didn't cure those, But for one day,
Maddie had a good day and I had a real
small part in it. When I drove off, I'm not
generally a real emotional person, but I got emotion. I
was wiping tears and I thought, you know, I made
(16:41):
her day. But she made something come into focus in
my mind that had been somewhat building throughout the summer,
But at that point I was like you know what,
God has me doing this for some unknown reason.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
But here's part of it.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
The reason being able one at a time to make
their day, to give them hope and courage. And boy
do we need some hope.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
And courage during these days.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
This happened even more recently. I was up in Dayton, Ohio,
north of here. I was at an event and they
had a playground there for special needs kids. And after
it was all over, I had Mary Ann Josh with
me and I said, I asked Mary and Josh, hey,
do you want to go over and see the playground?
So they went over there and they played, and I
did a few things in my truck, and then I
(17:35):
walked over there and Josh was on a piece of
equipment and there was a little down syndroome girl that
was more or less in his way, and Josh was waiting,
and the mom saw what was going on, came rushing
over there and.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Said sorry and moved her little girl all of the way.
And I said, no problem, no problem.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
And she looked at Josh and Mary, and then she
looked at me and she said, are you the ones
that have been on the news with.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Your ice cream truck?
Speaker 2 (18:07):
And I said, yeah, that's us, and she goes, I
was just showing that article to my husband this morning
or yesterday, and so we chatted for a little bit.
She had this little down syndrome daughter named Esther. And
then the mom came over to me and she told
me she said, and she started getting choked up as
(18:28):
she told me. She goes, I was telling God this morning.
I needed something to let me know that he was
still there and he cared about our family. She said,
We've been going through a lot and she needed a
reminder from God that everything was going to be all right.
And she said this is it. And I was like, wow,
(18:48):
because it's not me. It's a lot of work. There's
hot days. My air conditioner went down.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I've had a lot.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Of setbacks with the equipment this summer, but I'm determined
to push through it because I see now that there's
some real purpose in an old.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Ice cream truck.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
I never, in my wildest dream thought, yeah, buy an
ice cream truck and you can really make a difference.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
In somebody's life. But you know, I think it's one
of those things.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
You Yeah, you trust God and make the best decisions
and then you just walk and see what happens, and.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
What a beautiful story, And a special thanks to Robbie
for finding it, for editing it, and for producing it.
And a special thanks to Joel Wegener for sharing his
story and for just loving his down syndrome kids and
doing something special for them and himself and in the
end his neighborhood and all those families with special needs kids,
(19:50):
and frankly just people seeing unconditional love at play and
miracles at play. I made her day, he said, about
that young girl, Maddie. But in the end she made
his two. And that's what we try and do here
on this show, is spread this kind of joy and possibility.
Joe Wegener's story, Mary and Josh's story, the Weginer family
(20:11):
story here on our American Story
And we're back with our American stories. And up next,
Robbie brings us the story of Joel Wegener, an educator
and fundraiser who lives in Cincinnati, with a beautiful story
of facing the unexpected challenges life throws our way. Here's Joel.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
So. I grew up in southeast Kansas, went to college
there and became a teacher. Taught in Kansas for a
few years, then I moved to Cincinnati right after I
was married for one year. Then we moved from Cincinnati
to the Saint Louis area and took a teaching position there.
(00:56):
We stayed there about sixteen years. Many of our ten
children were born in Saint Louis area and we still
have friends back there, and one of my daughters is
also living back in that area. Then in two thousand
and two, we moved to Cincinnati. I started a fundraising
(01:16):
business and was also doing some teaching at a local
Christian school. Now, while I was in education, and then
also now that I'm doing the fundraising business, most of
my time was filled up during the school year, and
(01:36):
I had time during the summers to do other activities
and try to make a little extra money to support
my family. I've done a lot of different things in
the summers. One of the most interesting things that I
have done before the ice cream truck was I ran
a fireworks business in Missouri, tenth along Highway sixty one.
(01:59):
My children and help me do that, and we have
a lot of stories, a lot of fun, a lot
of hard work, and on a good year, made some
pretty good money doing that. I sold that business several
years ago, so over the last few years I've been
looking for something else to occupy my time. Last summer,
(02:22):
I saw an ice cream truck here locally, and that
planted a little seed in my mind of something that
I might want to do in the future. So I
put it in the back of my mind until January
of this year, and then started doing some research and
trying to find out if it was a viable business option.
(02:43):
I joined a couple of Facebook groups and was able
to find an ice cream truck in Columbus, Indiana. And
because I wasn't real sure this was going to make
a go of it, and some of my older children
were not all that supporting that. They thought it was
maybe another one of my crazy ideas, I went low budget,
(03:05):
but I founded an ice cream truck owned by some
people that have a special needs daughter and they had
used it to help raise money for her therapy as
well as give her something to do, and so we
went over and met them. They actually also have a
storefront where they sell hot dogs and other things and
employ special needs individuals, So it was really a neat
(03:27):
connection there. Once we went over there and really felt
that it was the right thing to do, that God
was directing us to that particular ice cream truck, so
we purchased it. It needed some repairs, it needed some cleaning.
We started doing that and working on that along with
my other responsibilities with the fundraising business, and on April fifteenth,
(03:53):
I set that as the deadline, not for taxes this year,
but the deadline to hit the streets with my ice
cream trucks. I found a local wholesaler, went through all
the licensing and all that, and Mary Kate, my twenty
one year old down syndrome daughter, and I went out
(04:13):
on April fifteenth for about an hour and we sold
seventy four dollars worth of ice cream, and I said,
we're on our way. And just to back up a
little bit about our family, we do have ten children
(04:35):
back in two thousand, the year two thousand, of course,
the world was shaking in their boots about y two
k that maybe all the computers were going to crash
and all that. On January first, well, we survived that.
During that time, my wife was pregnant, and in March
nineteen two thousand, my daughter, Mary Kate was born, and
(04:57):
we did not know beforehand, but soon found out that
she had down syndrome. She also had some other health issues.
I was in the hospital for about ten days, and
that was a very pivotal time in our lives, and
(05:18):
we were so fortunate to have such support from our
family and friends and church.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
But it was a change.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
We did not expect that, and we were not fully
prepared for the journey that God had chosen to place
us on. But we worked through that. We worked together,
and we were just counted Mary Kate a blessing, like
all the rest, a blessing from God. So we went
(05:49):
through that. And then we had another child, which was
a son, about a year later, and he was normal.
I guess I haven't decided if any of our kids
are totally normal. Was considered normal, and then we moved
to Cincinnati. Then when she delivered here in Cincinnati. Our
next child, it was Josh, and he also had Down
(06:12):
syndrome and had some health issues, heart issues, had to
have open heart surgery at four months, but has more
or less fully recovered from that a little heart murmur.
So we've been blessed with two Down syndrome. It's it's
been a journey, and I've told people, I'm sure my
(06:33):
wife and I are better people because of this journey
that God has placed us on with with marrying Josh.
So when Mary was born, you know, every parent when
(06:55):
a child is born, wants to say, Mom's fine, babies fine,
everything's normal. That's what you want to say. That's what
people want to hear. And so when it isn't, what
do you say? And how do you handle that? And
(07:15):
how do you still accept it and have joy in
having a new baby in your life even though it's
not the baby that you would have ordered. You know,
if you had if there was a catalog to order babies,
nobody would flip back to the Down syndrome section or
(07:35):
whatever else fill in the blank. Nobody would go back
to that section of the catalog or online, go to
that click on that tab. Now I have a high
degree of respect for people that are willing to adopt
special needs kids from other nations and all that. That's
just incredible, that process of accepting that child as yours
(08:01):
and as a blessing from God, and for others to
see it that way as well, and so that you
know that takes a process, you know, And we had
I worked at a school near Saint Louis, and the
faculty and staff were so supportive of us during that time.
Church and just family friends, and I remember my aunt
(08:24):
and uncle sent.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Me a book.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I think it's entitled Sometimes Miracles Hide. And so we
had people that just came alongside us and helped us
in that in that journey, and.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
We all know it, sometimes miracles do hide. Ten kids,
two Down syndrome children. My wife and I are better
people because of the journey with Mary, Kate and Josh.
The story of Joel Wegener continues here on our American Stories,
(09:39):
and we're back with our American Stories and the story
of Joel Wagener and Special Treats an ice cream Chuck,
Joel bought to run with his two adult children with
Down syndrome. When we last heard from Joel, he was
discussing the difficulties that often come with raising children with
special needs, but also the community that rallied around him
(10:00):
and his wife during those hard times.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Back to Joel, But it is an adjustment, and then
it's not just one time when they're born that you
have to do that. You have to continually process it,
almost more so when they get older, because when they're young,
(10:25):
even though they may have a disability, they're still cute
people still, and you go through kind of the normal
steps at a delayed rate. But then at some point,
you know, then you have to think about careers. You've
got to think about their long term care, their physical
issues that they're going to have in as an adult.
(10:46):
And then you know we're facing now you know, their
desire to get married and have children and how that
all plays out, you know, for someone with a disability.
So those are all things They're not easy, and I'm
not complaining about that. I'm just saying, hey, that's what
life is. But once you realize and make that firm
(11:08):
commitment that for some reason that we will never fully understand,
God allowed ordained however you're you want to explain it
to yourself or others for us to have Josh and
Mary in our lives, and people can talk about unconditional
(11:28):
love all they want until they've been around a down
syndrome kid, they probably haven't seen it, and.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
That's they're stubborn.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
But they also they have a very very good unconditional love.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
You know. We get so caught up and worried about all.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
These things, and sometimes it's just a reminder when all
Josh and Mary want to know is what are we
going to have for supper?
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Can we watch a video? You know?
Speaker 2 (12:00):
What are we going to do Friday night as a family?
You know, So they kind of keep us focused on
the things that really matter as opposed to all these
other little things that we're worried about. In the state
of Ohio, when they turn twenty two, they age out.
So Mary Kate will be twenty two within this school year.
(12:24):
So she was unable to continue with the public education.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
So that is a big challenge.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
For all special needs parents, is what is the next
step after being in the public education. She has often
mentioned that she would love to work with her papa
with the fundraising business. I found a few little things
periodically that she could do to help, but nothing that
I could really utilize her in a great way. So
(12:52):
as we developed this idea of the ice cream truck,
we started thinking this would be ideal to bring in
and also josh in and let them be a part
of it. We were thinking about the name for the
truck and the business, and my wife had the brilliant idea,
in my opinion, somewhat of a.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Play on words of.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Special needs, but it's special neat treats, and so that's
what we have named the truck. When we first started,
we went to neighborhood somewhat randomly, fairly close to Loveland, Ohio,
where we live. Here, there was a local magazine that
asked if they could feature us. It is also an
(13:36):
online magazine, and so this magazine came out in July,
and right after that I started getting so much attention
locally and some local TV stations to ask to do features,
and it.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Just has exploded since then.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
It's it's funny because you know, when I first had
this idea, I thought, well, you know, it'd be something,
you know, if I wanted to go out find if
I wanted to stay home.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Someday I'll see what happens.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
But now it's just taken off and the response has
been so unbelievably positive.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Seems like almost.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Every day that I go out to a neighborhood, I
meet families with special needs kids and just to be
able to share with them. They see Mary, Kate and
our Josh working with me, but just them seeing my
kids in the truck working with me gives them hope
and gives them some ideas.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Probably one of my all time.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Favorite stories that I really feel like was a turning
point in my mind as far as what the purpose
of Special Need Treats was all about. Thursday afternoon several
weeks ago, I went to a school. They were doing
a summer program for special needs kids, and so they
(15:01):
had contacted me. They had heard our story and they
went with the low budget thing, and I was fine
with that. There wasn't all that many kids, so from
a business standpoint, it wasn't a real profitable afternoon, but
I wanted to do it, and so I went out there.
They had the kids come out onto the parking lot
of the school, they got their treats. Everybody got their treats,
(15:25):
and Mary and Josh had something going on that day.
So I was by myself, but a little girl came
back up to the truck.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
I asked her name.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
She said it was Maddie. She said thanks for coming.
She said, You've made my day. So I started chatting
with her. I showed her a picture of my kids,
and she shared with me her disabilities and her diagnosis.
Had several things that she's been diagnosed with, but.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
She was very talkative.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
We just had a short little visit there and without
even premeditating or planning, and I looked at her and
I said, Maddie, I just want you to know that
God made you just like you are, and He has
a special plan for your life. And I get emotional
thinking about that moment because I was able to make
(16:17):
her day. I wasn't able to cure her autism, her
other disorders that I didn't cure those, But for one day,
Maddie had a good day and I had a real
small part in it. When I drove off, I'm not
generally a real emotional person, but I got emotion. I
was wiping tears and I thought, you know, I made
(16:41):
her day. But she made something come into focus in
my mind that had been somewhat building throughout the summer,
But at that point I was like you know what,
God has me doing this for some unknown reason.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
But here's part of it.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
The reason being able one at a time to make
their day, to give them hope and courage. And boy
do we need some hope.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
And courage during these days.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
This happened even more recently. I was up in Dayton, Ohio,
north of here. I was at an event and they
had a playground there for special needs kids. And after
it was all over, I had Mary Ann Josh with
me and I said, I asked Mary and Josh, hey,
do you want to go over and see the playground?
So they went over there and they played, and I
did a few things in my truck, and then I
(17:35):
walked over there and Josh was on a piece of
equipment and there was a little down syndroome girl that
was more or less in his way, and Josh was waiting,
and the mom saw what was going on, came rushing
over there and.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Said sorry and moved her little girl all of the way.
And I said, no problem, no problem.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
And she looked at Josh and Mary, and then she
looked at me and she said, are you the ones
that have been on the news with.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Your ice cream truck?
Speaker 2 (18:07):
And I said, yeah, that's us, and she goes, I
was just showing that article to my husband this morning
or yesterday, and so we chatted for a little bit.
She had this little down syndrome daughter named Esther. And
then the mom came over to me and she told
me she said, and she started getting choked up as
(18:28):
she told me. She goes, I was telling God this morning.
I needed something to let me know that he was
still there and he cared about our family. She said,
We've been going through a lot and she needed a
reminder from God that everything was going to be all right.
And she said this is it. And I was like, wow,
(18:48):
because it's not me. It's a lot of work. There's
hot days. My air conditioner went down.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I've had a lot.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Of setbacks with the equipment this summer, but I'm determined
to push through it because I see now that there's
some real purpose in an old.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Ice cream truck.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
I never, in my wildest dream thought, yeah, buy an
ice cream truck and you can really make a difference.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
In somebody's life. But you know, I think it's one
of those things.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
You Yeah, you trust God and make the best decisions
and then you just walk and see what happens, and.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
What a beautiful story, And a special thanks to Robbie
for finding it, for editing it, and for producing it.
And a special thanks to Joel Wegener for sharing his
story and for just loving his down syndrome kids and
doing something special for them and himself and in the
end his neighborhood and all those families with special needs kids,
(19:50):
and frankly just people seeing unconditional love at play and
miracles at play. I made her day, he said, about
that young girl, Maddie. But in the end she made
his two. And that's what we try and do here
on this show, is spread this kind of joy and possibility.
Joe Wegener's story, Mary and Josh's story, the Weginer family
(20:11):
story here on our American Story
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