Like so many mothers, one of Liz Finnegan’s favorite personality traits of her daughter is her zest for life. “It gives me so much peace,” she said. “She is social, loves to sing and dreams about being a princess; I swear we’ve seen ‘Beauty and the Beast’ 150 times,” she laughed.

Rachel Amar, the mother of Max, has faced a difficult journey with her son, which began when Max was born with brain stem atrophy, a diagnosis that doesn’t allow him to breathe, swallow, regulate his temperature or move on his own.