If you had 80 or 90 years on this planet, how many lives do you think you might positively impact? A dozen? Twenty? Those in helping professions may benefit large numbers of people, but what about the rest of us?

Let me tell you about a girl who who managed to touch the lives of almost everyone in Copley in fewer than 12 years.

When Lorelei Green was born to her parents, Kate and Bryan, in February 2014, they were more prepared for a child with Down syndrome than most families. Kate has worked at Ohio developmental disabilities boards throughout her career as a support and service coordinator (case manager), something that helped them hit the ground running.

People with Down syndrome (DS) are at a higher risk of additional medical conditions, and newborns are screened for life-threatening ones. Over 40% have congenital heart defects and they have a higher risk of acute myeloid leukemia. Also common is congenital duodenal atresia, in which the small intestine is either completely separated or blocked, as was the case with Lorelei. It was surgically corrected shortly after her birth.

That would prove to be the first of many surgeries and procedures Lorelei required. Her first year, she had four surgeries to fix a hernia. When she was 3, surgeons implanted a pacemaker and she received hearing aids. And throughout her life, Lorelei was frequently hospitalized for pulmonary issues. But from the get-go, one thing was clear: Lorelei was sassy and always rallied.

When you become the parent of a child with Down syndrome, you automatically join the community of DS families. But that’s not how I met the Greens. Stephanie Kist, a friend of mine from grad school, has triplets who are a month older than my daughter with DS, Lyra. The Kists live near the Greens and their children are friends with Lorelei and her older sister, Addy.  For a few years, we met up at each other’s homes, but that came to a halt when COVID hit. 

In 2021, Bryan, who was an ever-active and present father, suffered a permanent brain injury and resides in a nursing home as a result. Even with support from family and friends, it is far harder to work full time and raise two daughters, one of whom has chronic medical needs, as a single parent. Lorelei’s renowned ability to rally came naturally – she inherited it from her mother.

Over time, life mostly settled down for Kate and her daughters. For years, both girls ardently practiced and performed dance at Studio West Performing Arts Center. At Copley schools this fall, Addy started high school while Lorelei began sixth grade. With Addy old enough to babysit and Lorelei stable, Kate and another friend came to my house for dinner last May. A few weeks later, Lorelei’s atlanto-axial joint (C1 and C2) were surgically fused. People with DS are prone to subluxation of their spinal joints and before they ride horses in equine therapy programs, it is strongly recommended that the atlanto-axial joint be examined through an MRI for subluxation because slippage can cause significant, even life-threatening, damage.

Lorelei’s surgery went well, but one day in October she came home from school limping. Two days later, she was at Akron Children’s Hospital, unable to functionally move any of her limbs. I read all of Kate’s posts on Lorelei’s progress. Like most everyone, I believed this was just another medical episode Lorelei would power through like she always has.

As always, her spirit never stopped, but on Jan. 14, her body sadly did. Weddings and funerals are also reunions. But unlike family or class reunions, they bring together people from every corner of the celebrated person’s life. At Lorelei’s service, I saw DS friends from throughout NE Ohio. I also saw my eye doctor, a colleague from the university, a colleague from Akron schools and many other people I had no idea also knew Lorelei.

Two of her classmates gave eulogies. Hattie Pickett was remarkably poised as she described the lunch table at which Lorelei reigned and made all the other students pray, with their eyes closed, before eating. They often peeked precisely to have Lorelei scold them. When William Sloan spoke, his struggle with grief was so great that first his mother, and then Kate, stepped up to the podium to support him. Officers from the Fairlawn Police Department knew Lorelei from working as resources officers at her school buildings. The department posted a tribute to her on their Facebook page. The Copley boys’ basketball teams have worn purple ribbons with Lorelei’s name on them in their recent games.

It wasn’t so long ago that people with Down syndrome, or most other disabilities, were not welcome to attend public schools. Laws passed starting in the 1970s changed that, which has been a tremendous benefit to children with disabilities. But you know what? It’s been a benefit to students without disabilities, too.

Lorelei expanded the lives of her many friends at Copley-Fairlawn City Schools and elsewhere, cultivating in them an abiding empathy. What she taught them is now a part of who her friends are. And Lorelei did this just by being herself.

This column was first published on Sunday, February 1, 2026.