A Mother’s Love:
Graduation photo inspires couple with quadruplets
By Mary Ann Wyand
Constant motion.
That’s how Holy Name School first-grade teacher Ellen Taylor describes her life in the classroom with 12 students and at home with a 7-year-old son, 4-year-old son and 2-year-old quadruplets.
Taylor and her husband, Rick, will celebrate Mother’s Day with their children on May 14 at their south side Indianapolis home, and Sunday promises to be as busy as every other day of the year.
The Taylors said they never dreamed that God would bless them with six children in eight years of marriage, but now they can’t imagine life without their three sons and three daughters.
They believe that their naturally conceived quadruplets—Benjamin, Hannah, Allison and Abigail—are the result of many prayer requests for a daughter. (From the archives: Couple’s prayers answered times four)
Their oldest son, Zachary, is a second-grade student at Holy Name School in Beech Grove, and Jacob attends pre-kindergarten there so they go to school with their mother every weekday.
The quadruplets were born at 33 weeks on Nov. 28, 2003, at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, and the fraternal and identical twins are all healthy. They believe their babies’ strong start in life is also the result of many prayers.
It hasn’t been easy taking care of four babies at the same time, Ellen Taylor said, smiling easily, even with help from their parents, other relatives, friends and baby-sitters.
Fortunately, she said, teaching skills help her stay calm and organized at home, too.
Inspiration comes from a special photograph prominently displayed on their refrigerator, which they look at every day.
It’s a high school graduation picture of another set of Taylor quadruplets—David, Julie, Katie and Laura Taylor dressed in their caps and gowns—sent by their parents, Holy Spirit parishioners Phil and Theresa Taylor of New Palestine. The Taylor families are not related.
The photograph was taken with their firstborn daughter, Lynn, after Cathedral High School’s commencement ceremony on June 3, 2001, at the Hilbert Circle Theater on Monument Circle in Indianapolis.
“After our quadruplets were born,” Ellen Taylor said, “Theresa sent me a picture of their quads on their first Christmas, and another picture taken after their high school graduation, along with a beautiful letter giving me advice that I will treasure forever. We’ve had the graduation picture on our refrigerator for two years, and every time the babies cry and it gets stressful we just look at that picture and think, ‘They made it. We can, too.’ ”
The last two years have passed by in a blur, Rick Taylor said. “It’s gone pretty fast. We moved to a larger house in March of 2004. Our family life is different now than it was two years ago, but it hasn’t really slowed down. It’s still hectic.”
In spite of their nonstop lifestyle since the quadruplets were born, Rick Taylor managed to find time to complete a Master of Science degree in Management. He works in information technology for an employee benefits company in Indianapolis.
“We love all our children the same and are so happy to have them,” he said. “The experience of having all of them has been the biggest joy for us. It’s hectic every day, but fun, too.”
Faith has helped them trust in God’s plans for their family. He is a member of Gray Road Baptist Church and she is a member of Holy Name Parish, where their children were baptized.
“As humans, you can plan but God has a tendency of changing your plans,” he said. “It’s good to have long-term plans in theory, but with four babies we’ve learned to live in the present moment each day. You’ve got to have faith that God will take care of you, and everything will work out.”
As the mother of a half dozen children, Ellen Taylor said she appreciates her own mother’s help with child care and their parents’ help with financial needs.
“We are so grateful for help from our parents,” she said. “We’re just in constant motion all the time. It’s a lot of work, and sometimes you start to feel like you can’t do it all. A lot of times, in the morning, before we get the children out of bed, we’ll come down to the kitchen and just sit down and have a cup of coffee. Even if we don’t say anything, at least we’re still spending time alone together.”
When life gets stressful, she said, they have learned to place their trust in God.
“The experience of parenting six children has brought us closer as a couple,” she said. “It’s taught me to trust more, to be more faith-filled and to pray that God will take care of everything. It takes a lot of patience and a sense of humor. We worry about finances, and my big concern is, ‘How are we going to provide a Catholic education for all six of our children?’ ”
When doubts creep in, she said, they look at Phil and Theresa Taylor’s picture of their quadruplets on graduation day.
Theresa Taylor said when their quadruplets were born, there were only 25 sets of surviving quads in the country.
She said carrying her four children included its risks, and raising the quads came with challenges, too.
“My daily prayer to God from the moment I knew I was pregnant with the quads was that he show me a way to cope with whatever came,” Theresa Taylor said. “He always has, usually through the most unforeseen manner. There have been so many people … that have been there for me and my family. God has blessed us tremendously.”
Two decades later, she said, their
quadruplets “have graduated from college, moved out of the house and found employment. But more importantly, they are decent human beings who find joy in God and in their lives.”
Raising five children hasn’t been easy, Theresa Taylor said. “I am just glad that things turned out the way they did. God has indeed blessed us.”
Rick and Ellen Taylor are “a wonderful young couple with a big job on their hands,” she said. “I believe God will show them the way to cope. I believe they have a wonderful, if not difficult, journey ahead of them. They have been blessed. But then, that is easier for me to see, looking back on the life they have to look forward to. I wish them all the best.” †
