Disabilities challenge their lives, not love

Holding out her left hand to show off her engagement ring, Morgan Cansler was beaming beside her fiance.

“I almost cried when he gave it to me,” she said of Conrad “Tyler” DiFalcoJimenez, “because he got down on his hands and knees.”

“Just my knees,” said DiFalco-Jimenez, correcting her tenderly.

“Well, just your knees,” Cansler said.

The couple smiled and then laughed.

Sometimes, finding the right words can be a challenge; loving each other, though, is not.

DiFalco-Jimenez has autism, a developmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Cansler has epilepsy, a neurological disorder that delays her ability to process information and affects some of her movements.

The couple, from Fresno, California, met about three years ago at Wayfinders at Fresno State University, a program for young adults with intellectual disabilities that teaches independent living and vocational skills.

They got engaged during the summer and plan to be married in the fall.

DiFalco-Jimenez said his grandparents, Frank and Rosemarie DiFalco, are role models. The couple celebrated their 64th anniversary on Valentine’s Day.

“Valentine’s Day is for people who love each other, and they are a prime couple,” Rosemarie DiFalco said of her grandson and future granddaughter-in-law. “She cares very much about him, and he cares very much about her.”

Others can seem less supportive.