BLOOMINGTON - Heather DeLoriea wanted her big brother to attend her graduation day - even if he had to travel more than halfway across the nation to do so.

"He's her inspiration," said their mom, Mary Hill of Atlanta.

Sure enough, 10 days ago at her Ambrose University graduation in Iowa, there was Rob Hill, who had traveled all the way from Seattle.

Today, the family is at home in Atlanta, where Rob will stay until Thursday.

Rob has cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that appeared when he was a baby and permanently affects his body movements and muscle coordination. Heather, as a child, accompanied her brother to therapy sessions.

She decided a career helping others was for her. Next month, she starts work at Orthopedic Sports Medicine Center on Fort Jesse.

It was natural that Rob was with her to receive a doctor of physical therapy degree.

"I think it is a good field for her. She is familiar with what I went through," Rob said last week as he relaxed in his sister's home in Bloomington as part of his Christmas visit.

"She always helped you -whether you wanted it or not," said their mom, smiling.

When Rob was a boy, Heather tried to massage his hands and arms like the therapists she saw. Sometimes it hurt, he said.

With her, he jokes that "PT" really means "pain and torture," not "physical therapist."

At school, she shared her own experiences to help other students understand the work.

"I had a lot of things to say about working with families of children with disabilities," she said.

Rob works as a design engineer for Boeing Co. in its commercial airlines division in Seattle. He previously worked in Georgia, concentrating on military design, but prefers the climate in Washington.

He uses an electric wheelchair, but it hasn't kept him from an independent lifestyle or from inventing things that will help others with physical challenges.

Earlier, there were "heartbreaking" times for his parents, such as rules that prevented a young Rob from rides at Six Flags amusement park. "We never said he couldn't do anything - we'd find ways to adapt so he could do things," Mary Hill said.

As youngsters, the brother and sister were partners in crime who snagged cookies from the cupboard. Often Rob was the mastermind; his sister got in trouble when she got caught.

Other times, Heather would roller skate behind Rob, pulled by his electric wheelchair. "They could be very creative," Mary Hill said.

They also liked to compete, mainly about who got the best grades. Heather won, Rob said.

The siblings went to rival high schools: He attended University High School in Normal. Heather graduated from Olympia High School in rural Stanford.

Both were valedictorians.

In college, Heather had a perfect 4.0 grade average. Rob graduated from the University of Illinois with high honors.

Their father, Eric, has his private pilot's license and both parents visit Rob and help with modifications to his house. His inventions include a special toothbrush holder, other hygiene assisters and the design of his kitchen.

Someday, Rob said, he would like to open a business using his designs and specialize in affordable products to help physically challenged people.