Memory lane | Lessons from my daughter

I am worried my words can’t do justice to the day we spent at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

After 2 years and 8 months working on this, on Monday May 5th, I woke-up and took this picture. My girl slept like a rock the night before. I thought the excitement would keep her awake but I guess the flight and shopping tired her.

I got us all dress in matching outfits. That’s a sight you will not see that often!

We rented a car and started driving from Orlando to Clearwater.

We saw this!

Eventually, this!

And finally these!

It was a gorgeous day in Clearwater.

We were VIP’s 🙂

This is Emily looking at Winter. She had tears in her eyes.

Emily relates to Winter in a way that none of us can see or feel.

None of us!

Which is why I’m worried my words can’t express the magic we witnessed that day.

Since the very first movie preview…

Emily wanted to know more about Winter the dolphin that never gave up.

Winter who, against all odds, survived and now thrives.

Winter, the dolphin who inspires thousands to move forward.

We took a behind the scene tour… We learned about the history of the place, we saw the turtle intensive care unit, Emily asked questions and contributed to the tour.

When Emily heard Winter whistled, it was as if the whole world made sense. She was so happy. She had stars in her eyes.

I probably have a couple of hundreds of pictures of our day. Picking the ones included in this post was challenging.

Here is Emily getting ready to meet Hope (Winter’s buddy) and finally, Emily listening to Mallory and playing with Hope.

I cried while taking these pictures.

I can try to explain why I cried…

When Emily was diagnosed with cri du chat syndrome, we were told she would do nothing.

Never walk, talk, not recognized us, not show or even comprehend emotions.

When I saw her listen to Mallory and reach out to Hope I was slightly overwhelmed.

New parents assume their kids will do things and experience life.

After Emily’s diagnosis, all of our hopes and dreams were crushed.

All those new experiences, small or big, they are all big wins for us!

So, I cried.

Just a couple of tears really.

One tear for my baby girl who struggled with everything from drinking, to gaining weight, to sleeping…

One tear for my 24 year old self who cried so much.

One tear for all the doctor and therapy appointments who took over our lives.

One tear for our crushed dreams who are slowly coming true.

Thank you Becca for your help in making this dream come true.

We saw Winter getting her tail put on.

Emily received the cutest USB key ever made.

Our visit continued at the museum.

And concluded with a Sea Life Safari tour.

Thank you Sunshine Foundation of Canada and Thank you Clearwater Marine Aquarium

I know, this isn’t a photography blog….

This is a blog about Emily and the life lessons she’s teaching all people who come in contact with her.

Today’s post is about finding me… allowing myself to learn something for me… something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time but never got to it for so many reasons.

Over the years, Emily has taught us so much about ourselves…

Jon and I know each others dream and know what we both had to set aside at one point or another to continue our journey of learning with Emily.

Our journey is different than the one we planned when we met at 21 and 23 but believe me, we “now” love it. It was and still is difficult but we are making it work and we are now having fun! We are enjoying our family life.

Last December, Jonathan took Emily shopping for my Christmas/Birthday gift. They bought me a Canon Rebel T5i

I spent the first 2 months looking at my camera, thinking I had no more excuses. My family gave me the tool I needed to learn something I have been wanting to learn for years. Photography!

I didn’t read the instruction book and couldn’t figure it out on my own… 😦

So, I paid someone to give me a guided tour of my camera in early March.

I used it once in April and took it on our vacations earlier this month!

We went to Florida for Emily’s dream come true vacation which was granted by the Sunshine Foundation of Canada. We went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, we visited Universal parks, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Magic Kingdom.

Since my concussion (October 2013), I get massive headaches when traveling by plane and this time wasn’t different.

I don’t like roller coasters so it wasn’t difficult for me to pick taking pictures and playing with my camera as opposed to going on rides with Jon and Emily. Jon was worried I would get bored but eventually realized I was having an awesome time with my camera.

Here are some of my favorite “artsy” pictures from our trip.

This is a candid shot of a real man. My husband who will do anything for his girl. I know, that’s so sexy right? I love him and Emily adores her dad. We are so lucky to have Jon in our lives.

Flowers on the table, I just love the color.

Emily listening to our “behind the scene” tour at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium It was fascinating to see her pay attention and even contribute info and ask questions.

Emily, Mallory and Hope. My pictures are not as good as the CMA photographer but I like them.

This was much harder to do than I thought. The lights or lack of in there played tricks with my camera.

Again, my girl, completely engaged.

The whole island is covered with these. I took many pictures to try and show the thousands of seashells but I’m not 100% happy with any… That’s the best one, I think.

My girl

My girl and hubby sitting front row! I caught them on so many rides. I’m really proud of my roller coaster pictures.

Candid shot of my girl laughing.

Reflection in a window

I got the fire!

I photographed those suitcases 7 times before they looked this good. Again, the light was playing game with me.

My girl sitting front row once again. I photographed many strangers before taking this :). If we zoom in, you can see Emily laughing like crazy.

Animal kingdom. I have many more pictures of hippos, rhinos, lions, elephants and so on but the ones below are my favorites.

One of two baby gorilla napping while holding the most amazing monkey position ever. Scratching armpit and head? Seriously, that’s how he slept while the one kept rolling around 🙂

I might have to frame this.