TONTOGANY – Most of Garry Armstrong’s first dozen years were spent in and out of foster homes, the result
of his birth mom’s drug issues.
At age 3, he was shaken so severely by one of his mom’s boyfriends he was taken to Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital
There were times when he was homeless and had to beg for food on the streets. And he’s never had much of
a relationship with his birth father.
Garry’s 19 now and a senior at Otsego High School, where he runs cross country and track and is active in
the school’s choirs and musicals.
He’ll also attend Heidelberg University and run both sports next year and has a grade-point average of
just under 3.0.
"He’s a great kid. He works hard and is well liked by his teammates," Otsego cross country and
track coach Ryan Hafner said, adding Armstrong earned the cross country team’s coach’s award last fall.

Garry and his 14-year-old biological brother, Brad, an eighth-grader at Otsego, have lived a so-called
normal life since they were adopted five years ago by Bowling Green resident Matt Armstrong.
They were adopted through the Maumee-based Adopt America Network, a non-profit agency that recognized the
Armstrongs as its "success story" of the year last fall.
"Garry is literally a walking miracle. I’m so proud of him. He’s one of the most positive, uplifting
individuals you’d ever hope to meet," said Matt Armstrong, a 55-year-old free-lance composer who
teaches part-time at the University of Findlay and is a substitute teacher in the Otsego district.
"What he and his brother went through are just unimaginable."
Garry, who grew up in the Cincinnati and Southeast Ohio areas, had limited involvement in sports in
foster care. But once he got to Otsego, his dream was to play basketball and he joined the cross country
team in eighth grade to stay in shape for basketball.
When he started running, he quickly fell in love with it and will earn four letters in both sports.
Last fall, he earned honorable-mention All-Northern Buckeye Conference honors, helping Otsego win the NBC
title. The Knights also finished second in the district to advance to the regional.
He lowered his personal-best time in cross country from 23 minutes-plus as a freshman to 17:36 this
season.
"I hated running at first because it was hard, especially the hills at Mary Jane Thurston
Park," Garry said. "Now, I love it."
He competes in the 800 and the 3,200 relay in track.
"He’s really grown and matured a lot as a person," Hafner said. "He works hard every day
in practice. He’s a good leader. He’s really engaged with the team. He has a great passion for running.
You can really tell that because he’s run a lot more in the summer and put in a lot more miles. The
other kids feed off of his passion and energy."
Matt Armstrong always wanted to be a dad, but didn’t think adoption would be an option when he first
considered the idea in 2005. He didn’t want to adopt an infant since he was approaching his 50th
birthday, but then he noticed there were many teenagers up for adoption.
He took classes to become certified as a foster parent and as a parent eligible to adopt. He became a
foster parent to several children, but none of those situations worked out and he eventually told the
Adopt America Network to take his name off the list adoption parents.
But then he received a call from the agency and agreed to adopt Garry and Brad – just two weeks after his
50th birthday.
"Once I got beyond 50, I was going to be beyond doing this and I was ready to give up," Matt
said. "I always thought I’d adopt a sibling pair as a single dad, that would be easier for them and
when they got to the point they would have to start making decisions for me later in life. That it would
be better for them to have someone to share it with rather to put that burden on one particular
child."
Matt Armstrong also has been involved in Garry’s activities. He helps builds the sets for the musicals
and grills the hamburgers for the cross country team after its big meets each Saturday.
"Whatever a normal family is, we qualify," Garry said. "It’s been great – just having a
stable home, having a great group of friends and not having to go to a different school every
year."