Elizabeth Mulligan | Survivor

As soon as she recovered from the bone marrow transplant that treated her acute leukemia, Elizabeth made a decision to start a daycare center in WilmingtonIsland’s OldeTown neighborhood. She’d always adored children, and she figured it might be her only chance to pass on mothering skills to her daughters, then 12 and 18.

“I didn’t think I’d live that long and I wanted to see my girls hold babies,” she remembers.

That was 14 years ago, and she’s since seen that first coterie of Care Smart Nursery toddlers off to college. Known as “Miz Iz” by her charges, she estimates she’s read Good Night Moon “at least 2000 times.”

And yes, her girls took those mothering skills to heart: Elizabeth is a grandmother of three, including Jaden, shown here rolling around on the parachute, a favorite Care Smart activity. Her daughter, Carrie, works alongside her every day.