HOW WE CAME ABOUT-APRIL - 2003
THIS TIME LAST YEAR WAS JUST ANOTHER ORDINARY DAY. I WAS TAKING MY DAUGHTER - REANNE,TO DANCE SCHOOL ACCOMPANIED ALSO BY MY HYPERACTIVE SON ; "LEON" AND MY DAUGHTER CHLOE. WHILST GETTING MY CLAN OUT OF THE CAR I WAS APPROACHED BY REANNES DANCE TEACHER, "BARBARA MANN."
BARBARA IS LIKE A TASMANIAN DEVIL IN A LEOTARD; FULL OF MANIC ENERGY WHICH MAKES YOU EXHAUSTED JUST WATCHING HER. WITHIN FIVE MINUTES OF MEETING MY DISABLED DAUGHTER; "CHLOE" SHE HAD ASKED ME WHAT I WOULD LIKE MOST FOR HER, SHE HAD CALCULATED COSTS, SET DATES AND WHIRLED AWAY WITH A FUND RAISING EVENING ALREADY HALF PLANNED BY THE TIME SHE HAD LEFT THE CAR PARK. THE THINGS I WANTED MOST FOR CHLOE WERE THINGS THAT WOULD MAKE HER SMILE AND BRING A BIT OF JOY INTO HER LIFE. THESE INCLUDED ALL THE DIFFERENT LIGHTS THAT WOULD MAKE HER FACE COME ALIVE WITH AMAZEMENT AND A HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME WHICH WE COULD ALL LOOK BACK ON WITH THE FONDEST OF MEMORIES WHEN CHLOE WASN'T WITH US ANYMORE. AN EXPERIENCE WHICH WOULD BE OUT OF THIS WORLD FOR CHLOE, REANNE AND LEON. I HAD NEVER DREAMED OF GETTING ANY OF THESE THINGS REALISTICALLY AS TOYS OR LIGHTS FOR DISABLED CHILDREN ARE SO EXPENSIVE THEY ARE OUT OF MY REACH JUST AS MUCH AS A HOLIDAY WAS.
MY PARTNER ROY AND I DECIDED ON A SET OF FIBRE OPTIC LIGHTS AND EIGHT WEEKS LATER DUE TO AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF HARD WORK, BARBARA WAS TROTTING UP MY PATH WITH THE SET OF LIGHTS.
I WAS AMAZED,HIGHLY EMOTIONAL AND SPEECHLESS(WHICH IS A MIRACLE ON ITS OWN!).
HOWEVER THE GENEROSITY DIDN'T END THERE. A LOCAL REPORTER NAMED ANDREW HEBDON, WHO ALSO BECAME A FRIEND, WAS COVERING THE STORY FOR THE TELEGRAPH AND ARGUS AND KEPT RINGING US AS PEOPLE WERE SENDING DONATIONS AND GIFTS FOR US. BELIEVE ME IT WAS AMAZING.
ANDREW THEN RANG TO SEE IF SOME PEOPLE COULD COME AND MEET US. THESE WERE MUMTAZ DIRECTOR, MR RAB KHAN, COMMONWEALTH GAMES RUNNER ZAF SHAH AND HIS LOVELY WIFE LISA. THESE PEOPLE THOUGHT NOTHING OF HANDING OVER MONEY TO HELP A CHILD THEY HAD ONLY JUST MET. IT KNOCKED ME FOR SIX AND MADE ME REALISE THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO CARE AND CHILDREN CAN HAVE FUN THINGS IN LIFE, NO MATTER HOW EXPENSIVE.
IT RESTORED MY FAITH IN HUMAN NATURE AND MADE ME DETERMINED THAT WE WOULD HAVE THE MEANS TO TAKE CHLOE TO DISNEY WORLD OR TO SWIM WITH DOLPHINS.
WITH HARD WORK AND PEOPLE LIKE ALL THOSE WHO HAD HELPED TO GET CHLOES LIGHTS AND MUCH MORE, ANYTHING WAS POSSIBLE. SINCE GETTING THE LIGHTS CHLOE HAD BECOME MUCH MORE ALERT AND RESPONSIVE AND THIS REALLY WARMED MY HEART. THEN I THOUGHT, WE ARE SO LUCKY, WHY NOT SHARE THIS WITH OTHER FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN LIKE CHLOE.PEOPLE CAME FORWARD FOR ME SO NOW I WANTED TO DEDICATE WHAT I COULD TO BE THERE FOR OTHER FAMILIES. AFTER MENTIONING MY IDEA TO MY PARTNER,ROY, HE AGREED WITH ME AND VOWED TO SUPPORT ME 110%. I THEN MENTIONED IT TO MY GOOD FRIEND ANGIE CHIPPENDALE AND BEING THE WARM GENEROUS PERSON SHE IS, SHE THREW HERSELF INTO THE IDEA AS MUCH AS ME. WITHIN A FEW WEEKS WE WERE HAVING OUR FIRST FUNDRAISING EVENT FOR 'BUY A CHILD A SMILE'.
I CANNOT THANK ROY AND ANGIE ENOUGH FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND FOR DEDICATING THEIR HEART AND SOUL TO MAKING MY DREAM A REALITY.
SO THERE YOU GO. BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR WE HOPE TO HAVE A COLLECTION OF PICTURES AND STORIES OF ALL THE CHILDREN WE HAVE HELPED. HOPEFULLY ALL SMILING****************************
LOTS OF LOVE
PETA XXX
THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR SHOWING ME THE WAY.XXX
P.S.
SADLY CHLOE PASSED AWAY ON THE 3/12/03 AND DIDN'T MAKE IT TO DISNEY WORLD,BUT THIS HAS MADE US MORE DETERMINED TO HELP OTHERS.
OUR HEARTS ARE BREAKING BUT WE WILL LOVE YOU ETERNALLY,PRINCESS.
REST IN PEACE |
