It’s no secret that it’s been a rough summer.
Sarah Kate has handled everything like a trooper, but there’s only some sunshine you can muster when you’re an eleven year old girl cooped up at home being nagged by your mom into doing 45 minutes of exercises three times a day for weeks on end. But she’s been a trooper and it’s paid off – we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Although she doesn’t have a lot of stamina yet, she’s able to do most of what she could do before, and her legs definitely look better.
On Monday evening, we gathered a number of friends – ours and Sarah Kate’s – for a party to celebrate the end of her rehab. As I said on Friday, she isn’t done-done with rehab, but the bulk of it is behind her. We kept it simple – pizza and cupcakes – and the kids romped around the playground, played football in the grass, and got wet in the splash pad (well, one small boy in particular did, anyway…)
Then came the main event.
Sarah Kate was oblivious, talking to a friend from softball, when a pickup truck pulled into the park behind the pavilion, towing a boat.
A man got out, walked over with a Mickey balloon, and handed it to Sarah Kate.
She had talked to the man earlier, but she didn’t think much about it – she assumed he was someone her daddy knew from work (because Mr. Andi seems to know everyone in town…)
But this man was not a friend of her daddy. He’s Mr. Ronnie and he was a representative of Magic Moments, a Birmingham-based nonprofit that fulfills dreams for Alabama children with life-threatening or chronic medical conditions, and he was there to share some exciting news with Sarah Kate.
She has been granted her wish of a Disney cruise!
A few months ago, right at the beginning of Sarah Kate’s rehab, her physical therapist made the recommendation. We were reluctant at first to fill out an application – weren’t there plenty of kids out there who were more deserving? – but she encouraged us. There’s a board that decides which children should receive a wish, and they would make that decision without us disqualifying ourselves right out of the gate. So we did, and I heard back from them within just a few weeks.
Mr. Ronnie escorted Sarah Kate to a small “cruise ship” (Mr. Ronnie’s boat), where Mickey and a few of his pals waited.
Nathan, of course, had to be a part of the action, but as you can imagine, he was more interested in attempting to drive the boat off the trailer.
Once on board, Mr. Ronnie shared with Sarah Kate all the details of her upcoming trip (mom, dad, and little brother will get the chance to go, as well). And do you know what’s going to make it even better? The cruise sailing dates are timed to coincide with the cruise my dear friend Katie and her family will be on, so Sarah Kate (and the rest of us) will have a friend on board.
I was so excited for her, but I have to admit that the whole thing was tough for me. I can’t help but feel like we’re not deserving of such a generous and wonderful gift. But I have to remember that it’s not about me. It’s about Sarah Kate and her having just a few days to relax and be a kid, and for us to support that by being relaxed ourselves.
If you’d like to learn more about Magic Moments, visit their website, and if you know of a child who is a resident of Alabama that could be served by Magic Moments, please take a few minutes to refer them.
Hooray! Yay for Sarah Kate! I can’t wait to hear about the trip.
CAN’T WAIT! SO EXCITED!
How trite and “Captain Obvious” and annoying can I get?
“I can’t help but feel like we’re not deserving of such a generous and wonderful gift.”
You’re allowed to say this and I don’t want to deny you of the opportunity to safely share your feelings. But I also want you to be free of that feeling. So I’m not lecturing or criticizing. But this is just a game that none of us can win. We all have so many blessings in our life. And we all have so many burdens in our life. Don’t we deserve our blessings? Would you tell someone facing a challenge in life: “You deserve that.”?
How exciting that your family will receive such an awesome blessing!!
You have a point. I have always struggled with receiving gifts (and compliments). Thank you for your perspective. If I struggle to accept the gift, then that’s like a rejection, isn’t it? And that’s not a good thing.
I agree! You and your family are deserving or that panel of folks wouldn’t have given it to you. Bless the ones who blessed you by being so excited you pee your pants!
You can still be humble and gracious and also feel deserving. Deserving is a different animal than entitled.
This makes me cry happy tears for you. You do deserve it. All of you. I think we’ve got to grab whatever life gifts come our way. It’s so amazingly wonderful to see that smile on Sarah Kate’s face. A gift.
Enjoy the cruise and SK totally deserves this break after such a full on summer! Will she have to do PT every day on the cruise?
In tribute to you all I just made a small donation.
How awesome! We were on a Royal Caribbean cruise this summer and saw the Disney cruise ship at two of our ports. Looked like so much fun. Beware of Mickey overload!! But have fun! Can’t wait to read all about it!
Oh, just look at her face 🙂 her joy brings tears to my eyes 🙂
I think sometimes it is hard as a parent to accept the things offered to our children. There’s that nagging feeling that we’ve gotten so lucky to be doing okay that we shouldn’t accept things that could bring joy to another struggling kid. But, you know, most of the parents I meet with kids who have been through a lot feel like the lucky ones. We know it could be worse and we are grateful it isn’t.
I didn’t order my daughter’s Heart Hero cape for a long time because we were lucky–her complications after open heart surgery were overcome, she recovered beautifully, and her heart has been stable for two years now. I didn’t want to take up a place on the list for a cape because we were doing okay. But not too long ago, a mama waiting for her own heart baby to arrive told me she found it amazing how well my little Izzy was doing, how much she had overcome, and how she wished her own heart baby would do as well. It reminded me that as lucky as we are, as well as we are doing, my little Izzy has had and continues to have a long rough road. It’s all she knows and if a silky purple cape with a gold heart on it brings her some joy, that place in line on the waitlist is hers 🙂 these organizations exist to bring these kids some joy all along the way on their journeys and all of them deserve it, no matter where they are along the road.
Gosh, I’m long-winded some times 😉 Sarah Kate is amazing and I hope the joy this trip will bring her will make many wonderful memories for all of you 🙂
You may say it was long-winded, but I say it was worth it. 🙂
I have done some public speaking about special needs, and one statement that I’ve made both on the blog and in my public speaking events is a request that typical folks don’t begrudge the few benefits those in the disability community receive because most of the time our kids are like salmon swimming upstream. As I read your comment, I remembered that statement and realized I need to take it to heart myself. This trip is for HER – I’m just a typical person who gets to tag along – so by making statements like I did above, I’m being one of those typical people begrudging her one of the few advantages her disability gives her.
My daughter had a wonderful trip to NYC. We all went….it was the best time ever. Not one worry. Everything planned. Most definitely you are deserving. You are deserving of having that sort of trip were there is no worries. Enjoy!!
That is so awesome! I am in tears of joy for her. I am a huge Sarah Kate fan and am what you’d call a binge reader of your blog, because I check-in every few months and read for several hours at a time. We actually attended the same high school, Andi, but you were a few years ahead of me. Congrats to Sarah Kate! So glad she has the opportunity to chill and enjoy the benefits of all her hard work.