You don’t normally choose your family, but this story is an exception.
“I tell everyone: Chris is my brother, Cory is my sister,” Linda Young said.
It was legal promise three years ago. A contingency plan, just in case.
Chris Gamble has been Linda’s supervisor at the Fairwinds Golf Course in St. Lucie County for 20 years.
They became friends and now they’re family.
“If it wasn’t for Chris and Cory, I probably couldn’t have adopted my kids,” Linda said.
Chris and his wife, Cory, agreed to adopt Linda Young’s three grandkids as a backup plan, a lynchpin in the legal agreement for Linda to take custody of them three years ago.
“We all started spending time together. We spent holidays together and getting to know each other, so if something should happen, the transition would be easier,” Cory said.
Two months later, Linda was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer.
“My baby wanted to go to Disney World and we wanted this to come true that he go to Disney World so if anything happened to me, he can say I enjoyed Disney World with my grandma,” Linda said about her oldest known as Jojo.
Enter Big Apple Pizza in Fort Pierce. As they so often do, they hosted a fundraiser to make Disney happen.
Linda, in her permanent bliss, smiling and dancing all the way to Main Street USA.
“I’m going to whoop this. I’m not going to let it get the best of me. And I’m going to enjoy my kids and enjoy my boss and wherever I go I’m going to enjoy life,” Linda said.
“If they do lose their grandma, it’s going to be hard but we’re going to do everything we can to make it as easy as possible,” Cory said.
They raised around $7,000 Wednesday night. You have until Friday at 4 p.m. to donate, when Big Apple Pizza will give Linda her check.
They leave for Disney Monday.
