Our Disney Donor

After Sam's diagnosis and the twins birth, Mike and I received a lot of mail.  Cards and packages started rolling in with gifts, money, words of support, prayers and more. At the time, Sam was still going through treatment and spent most of his days on the couch watching Curious George.  He did not want to play, walk or really be around anyone except Mike and I.

The packages were little rays of light during a very dark time.  They piled up in our kitchen and in Sam's playroom.  They are still there, every single card and note and gift.  I started keeping a database of names and addresses to eventually, send thank you cards.  I don't know if we will ever be able to thank everyone; there are thousands of you.

One day a small package, perfectly sized for a VHS tape came in the mail.  There was a note from a woman in Summerville, SC.  Her name is in the database I am keeping on a computer that currently is not working.   The note she sent was fairly long and instructive.  Sam must see the Magic Kingdom.  It is very important for children to feel the magic of Disney.  She even gave affordable hotel recommendations.  We dumped the contents of the package out on the kitchen table - three $25 gift cards to Disney World and at least 30 pieces of gold jewelry.  Knowing nothing about jewelry, Mike and I assumed it was fairly worthless but were impressed by the gesture and firmness with which she made her suggestions.  Disney World was on our list of places to travel and we discussed sending her a picture of Sam from Disney World.

A few weeks later, our friend Jarrod came to town for a visit.  We told him about the package and that we wanted him to take the jewelry to a cash for gold place.  Jarrod was the perfect person for such an errand.  He came back with a check for over $700.  We were stunned by both the graciousness of this stranger but also by how wildly our expectations were violated.

I hope this post finds its way to our Disney donor even though we have temporarily lost her name.  I want her to know we had an amazing time at Disney World and we were able to bring along Sam's grandmother (Fa), Uncle Shannon and my nephew Christian.  The boys swam together in the Finding Nemo pool and slept in a Finding Nemo room together.  Sam loved the safari at Animal Kingdom and seeing Mickey from afar.  He was in awe of the "huge castle" and loved "It's a Small World" and the Haunted Mansion.  It was truly magical.