The life that Sara Keeney leads has impacted her family’s lives and her sister’s life in ways that many people don’t ever experience.

“Sara can’t walk and she can’t talk, either,” said junior Mary Keeney. “She’s probably about three and a half feet tall. She’s actually 21, but since part of her DNA is missing, her ability to grow has been stunted.”

18 Q Minus is a condition in which the chromosome that should be shaped like an “X” is actually shaped like a “Y,” because it’s missing a part. Keeney’s older sister Sara was born with 18 Q Minus, which has affected not only Sarah’s life, but also Mary’s life and the lives of her entire family.

Mary Keeney’s first season on the Cross Country team was this year, and said she gets her motivation to run from her sister.

“One of the reasons that I love to run is because my sister is handicapped and she can’t. I love to run because it feels like I’m running in her place,” said Keeney. “It’s like I’m running with four legs instead of two.”

Keeney has also been affected by her sister’s condition in other ways. Keeney said she sees Sara as a great example of what happiness is.

“Even though she doesn’t have the same understanding that most people do about things and growing and learning and changing, she always has a smile on her face,” said Keeney.

Sara responds to music the way 3 month-olds would respond, according to Keeney, who also said that high tones will make Sara happy, while minor keys won’t have as much of an effect on her, or they might get her to tear up a little.

“Something that’s truly amazing is that she loves music,” said Keeney. “It really gets her going.”

The Keeney family has memorized every line of “The Sound of Music” and “Cinderella,” because Sara gets a lot of reactions from the sound of Julie Andrews’ voice.

Keeney and her siblings learned from a really young age how important it is to take care of people, through the example of their mom. Growing up, they always had the responsibility of taking care of her. Keeney says that her faith in God has also been strengthened through the experience.

“What I believe about people with disabilities is that they were sent here as a blessing to make us more happy and to show us that you can go through trials no matter how hard they are,” said Keeney.

In the church of Latter Day Saints, the belief is that those with disabilities will return to the Heavenly Father and be perfected. Mary said that even now, she can see in her sister’s eyes that she has an understanding that there’s someone who loves her, and that that person is her Heavenly Father.

“It’s strengthened my testimony,” said Keeney. “I know that some day I’ll be able to tell her that I love her and she’ll be able to tell me that she loves me back.”