On the night of December 18, 1992, Dennis Corbitt’s grandmother died. Kim, his wife of only a year, was feeling bad because she was already three weeks past her due date, and she knew that the baby was coming any minute. She tried to keep the baby in as long as possible because she didn’t want Dennis to have to choose between going to the wake or being at the hospital with her. But, God had other plans. Delaney was born on December 22, 1992 at Bellevue Hospital at about four in the morning. Kim was in labor for fiftysix hours and needless to say, Dennis missed the wake and the funeral. Dennis’s mother Marilyn said “This is how it was supposed to be, the old die and the young are born.” Delaney weighed ten pounds and eleven ounces, and got stuck coming out of her 105 pound mother. The doctor pulled her out, crushing the nerves along her spine. Everyone was shocked and sad to find out that her right arm was paralyzed. Nobody knew what to do. The doctors told Kim and Dennis that they weren’t sure that Delaney would regain full function of her arm. They said they just had to wait and see. Kim took action and decided not to wait around. She took matters into her own hands and went to Albany Medical School’s library. This was one of the few places that offered access to the internet at the time and Kim had to find a solution to help her new daughter. Kim found a solution and Delaney began pediatric physical therapy when she was only five weeks old. She went to physical therapy, two to three times a week for the first four years of her life. Slowly, some of the nerves regenerated and limited function came back to her arm, unfortunately she never regained full function of her arm.
On September, 16, 1994, Delaney’s brother Ryan was born. They were twentytwo months apart, and Kim said she didn’t know what she was thinking. Ryan and Delaney were very close and loved each other very much, they never really fought or bickered like most siblings. Ryan looked up to his sister and wanted to do everything she did...unfortunately she liked to play dress up. So did he. He wore Delaney’s ballerina skirts and liked to have his toenails painted. That is until he discovered The Power Rangers. Delaney always had a love for animals and begged her parents for a kitten. She was relentless. Kim finally gave in and in 1995, she brought home a grey and white kitten with an attitude. However, the kitten, Patches, was more like a dog than a cat. He would follow all of the neighborhood kids to the bus stop in the morning and return home after the everyone got on the bus. A year after Delaney received her bratty kitten Patches, she started Kindergarden. The start of Kindergarden was sad for Delaney though, because her grandparents moved to Atlanta at that time. Delaney and her family missed them so much that they went to go visit as often as they could. Delaney quickly got used to sitting in the car for sixteen hours considering they drove down there and back at least five times a year. Kim made the drive all by herself with Delaney and Ryan in the backseat of the cool red mini van. Delaney remembers her mom packing snacks for the car ride and how she would threw them to the two kids in the back as she was driving. Kim was a crazy driver and only took about three bathroom stops. In 2002, after making dozens of trips Delaney and her family moved to Atlanta. She absolutely loved it there. On the bus in fifth grade, she met her best friend Shelby, and for two years they were inseparable. Shelby’s family was unlike any other she’d known before. They ate
dinner at nine at night, nobody ever went to sleep, and all decisions were made very spontaneously. It was really sad and difficult for Delaney to move back to New York. She remembers her mom taking her out to her favorite restaurant and breaking the news. Delaney cried right in the restaurant and refused to leave. In the meantime Kim and Dennis had found a house in Rotterdam. Delaney was horrified because she didn’t even know where that was. Turns out it was not very far from where she used to live in Schenectady. She cried for hours as they drove with the big moving truck and screaming cat from their big beautiful house in Atlanta to their new house in Rotterdam. Delaney started seventh grade at Draper Middle School. Making friends was always very easy for her, but she was sick of moving and having to make new friends. But regardless, she did. The summer before seventh grade started she joined the soccer team. Delaney quickly made a lot of friends and ended up playing until her freshman year in High School. At that point she decided she was done with soccer and no longer wanted to play. So instead she switched back to her the activity she was passionate about, taking horseback riding lessons. She took lessons once a week and fell in love with horses all over again just like in fifth grade. Delaney loved the feeling of every lesson improving her skills and jumping higher jumps. When she jumps it feels like she’s flying and it is her favorite part of the whole lesson, along with going fast of course. Horseback riding caused Delaney to build bonds with the horses and provided her with a place and pastime that made her feel free and calm. Delaney’s sophomore year was her favorite. She hung out with her big group of friends every weekend, got her first real boyfriend, and went to Schalmont’s Junior Prom. That following summer she made some very bad choices and for the first time in her life she was grounded. Her
parents were very disappointed and she spent her whole junior year making better choices and earning back her parents trust. During her senior year she was president of National Honor Society and vice president of French Honor Society. Her fantastic grades and outstanding college application essay allowed her to get in to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, far away from Rotterdam. She majored in Business and met her very goodlooking husband. After Vandy, she moved to Atlanta and opened the first of her three upscale bridal boutiques called Love, Laney. Two more stores followed in Miami and Houston. Love, Laney ads were featured in all the highend fashion magazines and brides from all over the country came to her stores to find their perfect dress. Delaney currently lives in Alpharetta, Georgia with her husband and four children. Her beautiful home is located on ten acres of rolling pasture. The nanny/ housekeeper lives in the carriage house behind the home. Delaney loves looking out her kitchen window in the morning and seeing her big red barn, white fences and two Appaloosa horses grazing in the pasture.