Wishes (Come True) and Wings (Of Her Own)

I am delving as deeply as I can into my soul to find words to describe Abbie's theater experience yesterday.  As you can see above, she made a lot of new friends....but if we start at the end and not the beginning, you may not understand why I was taking that photo through tears.

Keiko is the eldest daughter of our precious friends, the Oda family  (she is the blue fairy above).  Her mama, Sandra, invited Abbie to the Friday morning production of "Wishes and Wings", a play about a young fairy hoping to get her wings.  Unfortunately, Friday morning found most of Hawaii shut down due to the tsunami warning the night before  (pray for Japan!!!)

 I thought we were out of luck, and was so thankful that after many iterations of disappointing my daughter, I'd learned the lesson...I didn't tell Abbie about the play, so she wasn't sad.  In fact, she was still grinning on Friday from getting to sleep in Daddy's spot on the bed, since our bedroom is upstairs, and Daddy had to work all night during the emergency.  What an adventure.

Sandra emailed and told me there was another show on Sunday...woo-hoo!  She also mentioned that Abbie may get to meet some of the cast after the play -- what a treat.

The entire day was perfect.  We pulled into the parking garage, and immediately found plentiful handicapped parking.  You fellow drivers of rampvans know what a huge deal that is!  As we entered the theater, we asked for handicapped seating, and each usher was so kind.  They initially seated us in a very nice section about 3/4 of the way up the theater, with lots of room in front of us.  As the usher looked at Abbie, though, she noticed that her chair positioned her head to make her look up, not straight ahead.

"You know, we could seat her in the front row, so that as she looks up, she will be able to see everything."  What compassion!

So, to the front row we went, to what turned out to be the primo spot.  Abbie could see each of the radiant fairies, with their fantastic make-up, we could laugh with the silly turtle and seal, and she jumped a little at the scary spider.  Best of all, at the point in the play when the bubble machine kicked in, I think most of them landed on her.  She was thrilled!

I was transfixed by the lead fairy, "Blossom", a young one trying to get her wings.  Yes, I was impressed by her voice and poise, and was drawn in by her character.  But, mostly, I could not get over how much she reminded me of Abbie....very spunky, a little sassy, beautiful curls, and a sense of adventure.  In the end, she got her wings because she chose love.

One song that Blossom sang went something like this:  "When I get my wings, I am going to do a hundred thousand things."


I wondered how often Abbie serenades herself with a chorus similar to that.

We clapped and cheered as the colorful cast took their bows.  And, then Sandra came to me and said, "Doesn't Blossom remind you so much of Abbie??"   I had to smile at the validation.  My heart was pretty full by this point, so I was unprepared to hold back tears as the cast began to encircle Abbie.

They all knew her name, and were giving her lei!  Oh my!  Not only were they taking the time to greet her before they went outside to greet all the other patrons....but they had known she was coming.  Not just some little girl in a wheelchair, but Abbie.


And, then Blossom stepped forward...

Having just earned her own wings, she wanted to present Abbie with a pair of her own, too.

Here is sweet Blossom, and her newly-winged sidekick:

Abbie was then presented with a beautiful flower by one of the "Boy Fairies" as we called him:

They made such a beautiful fuss over her that I felt completely incapable of thanking them, and only hope that they have an inkling of how deeply their thoughtfulness, time, and attention meant to Abbie and her mommy.

As we walked to the car, we stopped to give Abbie some medication.  As I moved the lei on her lap, I noticed that one, composed of easter eggs, had a heart-shaped card attached.  I flipped it over to read this:

To Abbie - The girl who can fly,

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Phillippians 4:13"

Love, the Fairies

The girl who can fly -- how much that touched my heart.  I know in her dreams she does, and I pray fervently that the freedom she finds in the hours of slumber see her through the daylight hours of restriction.

After receiving it so abundantly yesterday, I can say yet again,  "Love Always Wins!"

Abbie and Keiko

With our deepest, from the tips-of-our-toes thanks to Abbie's beloved Auntie Sandra, who is always thinking of ways to include her and make sure she has a big life.