The Good Life: Sophie and Jason
Sophie Kildea and Jason Russo met on a hospital visit when they were both small children. However, they first really connected years later through the Special Olympics. “We became friends. Yes, we did,” Jason says. “We used to train together. And then we played basketball together. We were just friends. For a lot of years.”
As they got older, their parents thought it would be a good idea for them to become roommates and try living together as friends. “I was feeling happy moving in with Jase”. Said, Sophie.
”I just wanted to be independent and learn skills like cooking and that stuff. It was a good idea.” Jason says.
Robyn and Kerri, Sophie and Jason’s mums, started to plan how the move should work. But with all the years of planning the big move, neither Robyn nor Kerri anticipated what would happen next. “We’d been friends for a long time. Then we decided to be a couple, and we decided to date,” Sophie says.
”We didn’t think it was a good idea at first, but they persevered with us,” Robyn says. Sophie organised a meeting for them all to get together to have a chat about the changing nature of their relationship. “I just told them I was very happy and that he makes me feel happy and loved,” says Sophie.
Kerri agrees that they’ve been very good for each other. “Living with Sophie makes me feel happy. And it’s good because we help each other” shares Jason.
Images supplied by: Kerri Russo and Robyn Kildea, with thanks to Down Syndrome Australia.
In our social media series #StoriesOfTheGoodLife we explore what a good life means for people with disability. People from all walks of life, living rich, full and meaningful lives on their own terms.
Funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.