Travel | Lessons from my daughter

Spring 2010

Out of nowhere, a colleague at work asked me if we had plans for Easter.

We didn’t have any.

The next sentence out of her mouth was going to be the trigger to an amazing friendship.

“Want to go to Arizona?”

“We would love that!”

Sometimes, you just have to do it! Just book flights and go to Arizona for Easter with another family.

Abby is only a year younger than Emily. Lorraine and I have worked in the same building for 4 years. She’s spunky and I like her but I don’t know her that much. I don’t know her husband…

We truly didn’t know if that would work!

We knew Emily was a good flyer.

I knew I wanted my family to see Arizona.

Here’s my girl at the Moncton airport…. Bright and early.

We ended-up stuck in Toronto for 1 night. Flying on stand-by has that kind of built-in excitement :).

You can get upset or you can go with the flow.

We decided to make a fun night out of it and booked 2 rooms on the gold floor at the Fairmont Royal York!

The girls and parents loved it.

We arrived in Arizona on the Saturday instead of the Friday.

We were all mesmerized by the cactus and quite hungry.

We were staying at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess.

I have to admit, this is one of my favorite place on this planet and I was so excited to have Jon and Emily there with me.

We changed into summer clothes and explored the property

My girl looked like a movie star

The next morning was all about the Easter rabbit, Easter egg hunt and Easter brunch.

We booked the whole Easter rabbit experience.

Special delivery! Best wake-up call ever!

Best Easter brunch ever! I have been day dreaming about this brunch.

Best brunch ever!!!

We even did this!!!

You’ve seen it before…. 🙂

We explored the grounds some more and booked a cabana by the pool for the whole day on Monday.

We had drinks, fruits, ice cream, shade, a tv and reserved seating poolside.

Best Easter ever!

My family discovered my favorite hotel and we all made new friends!!!

Best friends!

Lately, my blog posts haven’t been as much about Emily’s syndrome…

They have been about Emily.

Our trips, make-up, fashion, art and so much more…

I didn’t avoid her syndrome…

I just, sometimes, forget about it!

It feels good to forget about it!

Than, out of nowhere, it hits me.

Emily will be 17 in June. If she had been in school in Quebec, like I did, this would mean, going to college in the fall of 2015.

When I was 17, I moved over 1000km away from my home to pursue my studies.

I had a boyfriend and had my driver’s license.

I could manage groceries, pay bills, use public transportation and study hard. I wasn’t a good cook but never starved.

I learned to cook eventually.

So, sometimes, I forget about Emily’s syndrome.

I love seeing her for who she is.

I love remembering our vacations and thinking about the next one.

I love helping her get ready in the morning, helping with her hair and trying to teach her about skin care and make-up.

What I even love more is when I ask if she needs help with something and she says no.

Over the last year, she has learned to put her dishes in the dishwasher, start the dishwasher, makes tea, start her shower on her own, start the washer and dryer, comb her hair and even made her own pony tail…

She played baseball at the Rogers Center in Toronto and slowly started to ride horses without a horse handler 🙂

Her reading is improving and she’s interested in learning how to cook!

This week she started making her bed!

Most of those things are quite insignificant for “regular boring” kids but when you have an exceptional daughter like mine, those are spectacular achievements.

Slowly but surely, she is getting older…

Slowly but surely she continues to prove that her diagnosis of “not walking, not talking, not feeding herself, not showing emotions, not recognizing us…” was more of a worst case scenario rather than a sure fact.

Some new babies being diagnosed with cri du chat syndrome, are still being told about all the things they will never do. Some are being told they will not live to be 1 year old.

I want the world to know about Emily. About her syndrome and about her successes.

My girl is awesome and sometime I prefer to talk about her awesomeness rather than dwell on her (and our) struggles.

It makes me happy and I wish it brings happiness and hopes to parents everywhere. Regardless of the diagnosis, what your child will achieve will bring you joy. Regardless of the struggles, you will find happiness in the smallest achievements if you allow yourself to see them and celebrate them.