Barry Frey cruises across the family living room in Bothell, points at a photo collage and beams with pride, “Check it out!”
The large poster-board item features tons of pictures throughout the years of Barry and his twin brother, Drake, both 18 years old and recent Bothell High graduates. On the mantle above the collage are prom pictures of the boys with their dates, Evie Lasseter and Jamie Lang.
When Barry displays a yearbook feature on the brothers, he smiles and nods his head when perusing the headline: “Two very special and unique people have forever changed us.”
Local newspaper readers first met Barry and Drake in a Northshore Citizen Dec. 29, 1993, story titled, “A constant battle: Chamber lends its support as former volunteer struggles to care for ailing sons.” Due to complications during birth, Barry breathed through a ventilator and was fed through a gastrointestinal tube; Drake was left legally blind and with cerebral palsy.
Mom Janet says of the boys today: “Barry’s doing pretty good and Drake is medically fragile. (Graduating) is exciting. We never thought we’d see this day. We’ve had medical ups and downs and we’ve almost lost (Drake) several times. We keep plugging along — and we’ve done it.” (Today, Barry has mild cerebral palsy, which has affected his vision, and had reconstructive airway surgery when he was 11, leaving him with one vocal cord; Drake has severe cerebral palsy, travels in a wheelchair, and because of his motor-skill issues, he is fed through a gastrointestinal tube with special formula.)
On his thoughts about graduating, Barry added: “You don’t even wanna know, man … it’s a little bit emotional. Like my mom said, I didn’t think I’d see this day, either. You almost lost me several times; at one point, we could have lost both of us.”
Janet added that the boys have made a wealth of good friends along the way, several of whom Drake featured in his senior-project video that focuses on him being mainstreamed in regular classes (he communicates through a Mercury electronic device). Lasseter was emotional in noting that Drake’s friendship has changed her life and guided her toward becoming a teacher in the future.
Wherever Janet and husband, Bob, take the boys, people know them and call out to the twins.
Drake’s nurse, Cherise Reaber, also sees the positive interaction with others first-hand at Bothell High. She arrives at the Frey home in the morning, travels with the boys on the bus to school and sits with Drake in class to offer assistance. His classmates lend a hand, as well, she added.
“It’s nice to see (Drake) in classes and the other kids responding. They’re not afraid to touch him and talk to him like any other kid,” Reaber said. “Every day, there’s some moment when I sit back and (become emotionally uplifted).”
Added Janet: “We want people to know that having a disability isn’t all bad. We want people to know that it’s OK to be friends with a person with special needs. We want people to know that people with disabilities, especially in wheelchairs, don’t sit around in bed all day … they are part of the community.”
Drake has performed in plays over the years, and Barry thrived as Bothell High’s football team manager for the last three seasons. A self-proclaimed “sports nut,” Barry traveled with the team, moved equipment and kept a close eye on the action when the Cougars hit the field.
“It was great. Unfortunately, we never had a state title, but, hey, who cares?” he said.
Barry is interested in sports broadcasting and history and also sang at the recent senior breakfast and in three talent shows while playing guitar.
In the Northshore Citizen article, written when the twins were 17 months old, Janet said: “Barry’s a very good child. I told him I would like to have a hundred million more of him, except without the tubes.”
So is Barry still a good boy today?
“He still is,” Janet said with a smile.
“Oh, come on, I’ve done my fair share of complete bull,” Barry volleyed back.
“All kids do, but you know what? You are an incredible human being,” Janet continued. “He’s kept his chin up high and stayed out of trouble and he’s done a good job.”
Mom then turned to Drake: “You can cause your share of trouble, too. Just because you’re in a wheelchair doesn’t mean you can’t be devious.”
Janet said that some people originally told her to put the boys in foster care as the family struggled to pay for medical costs after she was laid off from her marketing-research job in 1993. The Northshore Chamber of Commerce helped raise $5,000 for a used hydraulic lift for the stairway to move medical equipment in the family’s Kenmore home. (She later worked for six years as a Northshore School District paraeducator in special-needs classrooms and in the special-education field.)
“I said, ‘No, we can do this,’ and make their lives as normal as we possibly can,” Janet said of the foster-care suggestion. “When I look at that poster (collage), I don’t see disability, at all — I see normal, and they’re happy.”
• Editor’s note: Due to a Web malfunction, a pair comments on this story were deleted.
Here they are:
What an inspiring group of people, the twins, thier parents who have fought so hard and the support network of people that continue to be there when they are needed. Daniel Holt
What an accomplishment! Their faces are beaming, but I’m not sure anyone could be more proud than their mother. I am privileged to work young people who overcome the challenges of cerebral palsy and other disabilities every day through http://www.birthinjuryattorney.net… This story will be a bit of encouragement and inspiration that they need. Regards, SonjaKathryna
