DALLAS, Ga. — If you ask Lisa Streeter, she’ll send you all the photos.
She's got Deven as a toddler and as a teenager. She has saved so much from the life of her son, including the photos that remind her how his life began, nearly four months early.
“Deven was born one pound," Streeter says, "and the doctors told us he would not make it…maybe not through the night.”
Deven stayed in the NICU so long, his mother says, the staff called him “Mr. Streeter.” His family brought in a chaplain to pray over his incubator. But he made it … with no complications and no knowledge of what he went through until years later.
“I was very surprised about it," he said. "I didn’t know about my entire past. But it was a blessing.”
When you barely survive birth, everything after feels like a victory. And graduating high school? "It’s like … the top of the list," said Streeter.
But the ceremony for Hiram High School, where Deven is a senior, has been delayed until June because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I wanted to make sure that he didn’t get slighted from celebrating with our family and friends," said his mom. "I wanted to make sure he didn’t feel he didn’t accomplish his goal.”
So Saturday, Streeter arranged a parade for her son. State troopers escorted Deven from home. Neighbors lined up. Deven ate it up.
“He was excited, he smiled, and he danced," Streeter said. "And he never dances.”
In the end, it’s a whole new batch of photos for a life that continues to build.
“I’m really not supposed to be here," says the graduate. "This felt really personal, like it was supposed to happen.”
Deven will head to Chattahoochee Tech in the fall to study film production.
