Where love reigns

"There is nothing special about my wife and I at all," said Ed Ravish. "We are just doing a job that we've been called to do."

There might be a number of people, however, who disagree with Ravish's modest statement.

And the astounding thing is that it's not the adventure-movie worthy story of their lives that makes Ed and Annie Ravish special. Despite going up against one of the most powerful families in the Polish mafia, despite a narrow escape from a bloody political coup in Haiti and despite stories of harrowing moments, dangerous missions, tragedy and triumph, it is their home life that just may qualify them as heroes.

It is a home life where young 13-year-old Nathan takes his pet iguana for a walk every day, and 6-year-old Emma Rose rides horses and spends time in her sky-blue and cloud painted room reading her favorite books.

Little outward notice is seemingly given in this bustling household to the fact that young Emma Rose, whose laugher and sparkling bright eyes are infectious in their happiness, moves quickly and gracefully through the house on her hands, having been born without legs. No overt attention is given on a day-to-day basis to the fact that Nathan suffers from Progeria Syndrome, a rare genetic disease that accelerates the aging process to about seven times the normal rate. Due to this advanced aging, Nathan contends with respiratory, cardiovascular, and arthritic conditions similar to those a 70-year-old would face.

Even Emma Rose and Nathan themselves seem to give little notice to their challenges. "Let's go show my room, dad," Emma Rose said with her trademark bright grin, and it was clear from her ease and comfort she knew this house was home.

Meanwhile, Nathan cherishes opportunities and the little things that would never have been a part of his life without the Gabriel House. "I love him. He's kind of like my son," Nathan said of his pet iguana as it scampered across his shoulders — and it was clear in his demeanor and the expression on his face when he looked at Ravish just where that idea of being a son, and being loved, came from.

One reason so little notice is drawn by the physical challenges faced by these children is that, in this house, they are far from unusual. Located on 5 acres in the Briarcliff neighborhood of South Fort Myers and once just a run-of-the-mill house, this home is now known as the Gabriel House. Started more than 17 years ago by the Ravishes, Gabriel House provides sanctuary, support, love and healing for young children who have been abandoned and are in need of medical care.

The numbers are staggering. Gabriel House sometimes houses more than 25 children at one time. The home has played a part in the health and survival of 200-plus children from all across Florida, Washington state and Texas, as well as places such as Israel, Russia and India.

The challenges faced by these children are even more astounding: Down Syndrome, deafness, blindness, autism, polio, open heart surgery. Add to those challenges the capacity for cruelty and neglect exhibited by their birth parents, and one could understand Ravish's anger at some of what he has seen.

"Of course it makes you angry, when you see things we have seen," he said from the living room of his home where he sat petting the shiny black coat of one of the two dogs and two cats that also make Gabriel House their home.

Annie rescued Naomi, one of the five children currently living at Gabriel House, in Haiti. Risking her own life, Annie snatched the small shoebox in which the infant Naomi lay from the arms of a high priest in mere steps from the sacrificial alter where the young Naomi's life was to be paid in homage to the gods.

Nathan, whose neurosurgeon parents had abandoned him at a hospital in Warsaw, was discovered by the Ravishes during a 2000 trip to Poland and has lived with them ever since. While the great majority of children taken into the Gabriel Home are adopted out after their medical treatment is complete, the Ravishes have adopted Naomi, Emma Rose and Nathan, as well two other girls who came into the home at about the same time as Naomi. Medical treatment for the residents of the home can take up to three years, said Ravish, at which time prospective parents are interviewed and the adoption process is competed. Ravish doesn't know if his experiences as an only child fostered a yearning for a large family, but, whatever the reason, the Ravish's own five children, in addition to the typical six to 12 children under medical care, make the Ravish home a stark contrast to those quiet growing up years.

Both Annie and Ed were following a path that centered on helping children in New England before moving to Fort Myers. Ed was involved with family therapy and mental health clinics, and Annie was a special education teacher.

"Our life was already geared towards this direction," he said. "I remember when we were in the cars moving here (to Fort Myers), our children were already asking 'when are we going to start working with kids again?'"

After taking a year to settle into their new home in Southwest Florida, Ed and Annie started once again focusing their lives on helping children, becoming foster parents in Lee County.

Then Annie made a trip to Haiti, and the family's world changed. Caught in the middle of a political coup, Annie was surrounded by death, violence and uncertainty, and it was two weeks before she was even able to let her husband know she was alive. Ed flew to Haiti and was able to bring Annie home, but the effects of that experience would change their lives

"Haiti was the pivotal experience which made both of us decide to give our lives in this type of ministry," said Ravish. "We've dedicated our lives in a Christian commitment to working with children who are abandoned or unwanted and have a medical problem."

The ministry and dedication has been an intense, and sometimes very difficult, path to follow, said Ravish, but at the same time he sees it as completely fulfilling.

"Funding is not always easy and there is not much we haven't given to this," he said. "But luckily, there are so many people in Lee and Collier counties who have hearts for kid. It's incredible, people here are generally really good people and they want to help.

Generosity is in abundance when it comes to the medical community of Lee County, said Ravish. Local doctors provide nearly all the medical procedures needed by the Gabriel House children at no charge. Dr. Darrell Troast is the medical director of the nonprofit Gabriel House, and local pediatric orthopedic surgeon Brett Shannon has performed dozens of procedures at no charge, Ravish added.

"When the surgeries are complete and you see a kid go out to their own adopted family," he said, "it's not just the child that is blessed, the whole family is blessed. Those are the moments we cherish, the ones you can't replace."

It is also a legacy that will live on. The experience of having the Gabriel House children in their lives has had a great influence on the Ravish's biological children, according to Ed.

"They've given up their rooms, walked with the kids and played with them, and because of his experiences here, our son Matthew decided to become a pediatrician."

Don't expect the Ravishes to fade from the scene anytime soon though. Ed, 73, said keeping up with all the kids has kept him young.

"We'll be here as long as we can and help as many children as we can," he said.