Katie's Dad posted an update on our mailing list today....
Hello everyone
Just a quick update to let you know that Katie's summer has been a
fantastic one. In the last four weeks, following her Make-A-Wish trip to
Disney World, Katie and her sisters have been very busy. Here are some
highlights:
1 - Toni Sheridan of Make-A-Wish felt moved to help Katie realize some
of the wishes she'd mentioned in her initial interview. One of them was
to be a veterinarian. Toni set it up with a local vet to allow Katie to
be vet for a day! Katie got to treat two dogs and a cat after hours,
including doing bloodwork and full exams. Katie decided to skip the
temperature-taking part, I don't know why
She even got a graduation
party and a diploma and a full set of scrubs all done in pink.
2 - Toni pulled an encore by making Katie's love of performing into
another wish! She set it up with the local Workshop Theater here in town
to allow her to make a guest appearance as one of the orphans in Little
Orphan Annie. Allie, Katie, and Emily were all treated like members of
the cast, pampered in the dressing room and adopted as honorary orphans.
Katie got to sit on President Roosevelt's lap in the final production
number - a star was born!
3 - Katie has long wanted a droid from Star Wars to sit by her bed like
one did for Padme in Episode II. Her only suggestion: make R2 pink! Her
sister Allie got the idea of making a pink R2 and dubbing it R2-KT and
before you know it, my friends at the R2 Builders Group were hot on the
project of making Katie her very own droid. Jerry Greene and other
geniuses of robotic design are quickly working on making this dream a
reality. But with time being a big factor in Katie's health, member Andy
Schwartz of Washington, DC was kind enough to mod his R2 with some pink
flair and send it down to keep Katie company until HER droid could be
built. The improvised R2-KT now sits patiently in Katie's room, watching
over her as she sleeps and beeping reassuringly whenever Katie needs
someone to talk to. R2-KT will be here one day, but in the meantime
Katie has a friend.
4 - Jay Lopez, a co-worker of mine, got me in touch with Linda Finnegan
of Kids with a Cause. She was kind enough to get us front-row tickets to
the Hillary Duff concert in Charleston on July 31st! Katie and Allie got
to meet Hillary before the show and hang out with her, then got to watch
her rocking performance. Allie pretty much lived on the edge of the
stage, high-fiving Hillary throughout the show. Thanks so much to Jay
and Linda for making that happen.
This and much more has taken place in July. Kathy and I have worked hard
to make sure that Katie and her sisters have a summer full of fun and
not full of gloom. Thanks to the efforts and kindness of our wonderful
friends, Katie and her sisters have enjoyed some memories that will
comfort us in the days ahead.
If you'd like to see pictures of these and other events from this July,
just go by our imageevent site in the new folder: Katie's Summer:
http://imageevent.com/tk210/family/katiessummer. There's even video
clips of her meeting Hillary Duff!
Katie is a very happy girl right now, in spite of the challenges she
faces. She tells me to tell you all thank you for the cards and presents
- they mean so much. Continue to pray for us and for Katie. God bless
you all for your help.
- Albin and Kathy Johnson
