Tweet
This last Saturday was a very inspirational night for 9 year-old Ava Murphy and her family. Ava was adopted 1 year ago from Ethiopia and is currently undergoing treatment for a life threatening autoimmune disease. She and her sister Grace (also 9) were hosted by the University of Washington women’s basketball team as part of the Lucky Dawg program. Ava’s mother Christall put together a beautiful email describing the impact that Ava’s night as the Lucky Dawg meant to her family.
-----------------------------------
Donna,
I think I've started writing this a dozen times already...
I can't thank you, and everyone else involved, enough for last night.
When you came back over to the bench after the girls were announced - you were right... I was a crying mess (thankfully it didn't escalate into *that* ugly cry... I've learned to control myself a little bit) and you were also right about why - seeing THAT - it's all about hope.
A year ago (14 months to be exact) Ava was a 40 lb little girl who was actively dying - there was no question - when we were together in Ethiopia, on the flight home, when we went from Sea-tac right into the hospital - she was dying... There wasn't a whole lot of hope...
And last night I got to see her on the court with a group of girls who were loving her DESPITE her diagnosis, Seriously loving on her...
I know Make-a-wish is about the hope... and I know that each of the families involved has a different story... but I think in Ava's case it is SO much more.
In Ethiopia she was shunned from her village - her life was AWFUL - and she knew that there was NO hope of growing up. She knew she would have no friends, no love, no chance... Life in Ethiopia for a child with a life threatening medical condition is devastating (to say the least). Because she had spent 8 years seeing what life is like for a sick child in Ethiopia - she has had a VERY difficult time believing that it can be any different here.
Having our amazing wish coordinators (one of them being a much loved teacher of both myself and Jason during middle and high school!!!) come and dream with her - color with her - laugh with her... We told Ava that they *knew* about her being sick and she really expected them to come to the house and ignore her... So when they came with gifts and love and fun FOR HER (and Grace)... she couldn't believe it...
Then last night... Those girls were the "big kids" that Ava begs to play with every time we drive past the game fields on the way to the hospital... Not only was she playing with the big kids - they WANTED to be with her... She was included and embraced and treated like any other kid. That's something she NEVER believed would happen.
On the drive home last night we stopped to eat and Ava said, "Mommy, when I go to college I want to play Volleyball like Amanda."
Jason and I were speechless...
For a year we've been telling Ava that in the United States ALL girls CAN go to college - whether they are sick or not... but for a year it has just been us telling her... She hasn't ever believed that she could go to college - that she'd be allowed to go to college... When someone asks her what she wants to be when she grows up she usually replies, "I'm not going to grow up." Most people think that's cute - thinking that she means she doesn't want to grow up/she wants to stay a kid... but really, it's because she doesn't believe she will LIVE to grow up. So last night when she, for the first time, could picture herself going to college - well, it wasn't just me who got a little teary-eyed.
The experiences we've had with make-a-wish have truly changed her life. Jason and I can love her and tell her that the world is wide open to her now that she's here - but not until she experienced it herself in the form of these amazing little treats (lucky dawg for example) has she believed it.
I also want to thank everyone for letting Grace participate. I'm so proud of the kid she has become over the last year. Going from an only child who had my undivided attention pretty much all the time - to being a sister and having to share everything - and not only being a sister - but the sister of a kid with a chronic, serious illness... she's kind of been through the wringer herself... and then having to watch Ava do all of this cool "stuff" - she's pretty good at being happy for her - but I know it can't always be easy (as if being 9 isn't already hard enough)... so when they let her sit with the team, stand with the team, cheer with them... I know what that meant to her.
Just to round out the experience - both girls are outside in the pouring rain with their new volleyballs, decked out in their autographed sweatshirts playing their new *favorite* sport...
Looking out the window seeing how happy they both are I've realized that simply saying thank you isn't enough.
Christall
-----------------------------------
Donna,
I think I've started writing this a dozen times already...
I can't thank you, and everyone else involved, enough for last night.
When you came back over to the bench after the girls were announced - you were right... I was a crying mess (thankfully it didn't escalate into *that* ugly cry... I've learned to control myself a little bit) and you were also right about why - seeing THAT - it's all about hope.
A year ago (14 months to be exact) Ava was a 40 lb little girl who was actively dying - there was no question - when we were together in Ethiopia, on the flight home, when we went from Sea-tac right into the hospital - she was dying... There wasn't a whole lot of hope...
And last night I got to see her on the court with a group of girls who were loving her DESPITE her diagnosis, Seriously loving on her...
I know Make-a-wish is about the hope... and I know that each of the families involved has a different story... but I think in Ava's case it is SO much more.
In Ethiopia she was shunned from her village - her life was AWFUL - and she knew that there was NO hope of growing up. She knew she would have no friends, no love, no chance... Life in Ethiopia for a child with a life threatening medical condition is devastating (to say the least). Because she had spent 8 years seeing what life is like for a sick child in Ethiopia - she has had a VERY difficult time believing that it can be any different here.
Having our amazing wish coordinators (one of them being a much loved teacher of both myself and Jason during middle and high school!!!) come and dream with her - color with her - laugh with her... We told Ava that they *knew* about her being sick and she really expected them to come to the house and ignore her... So when they came with gifts and love and fun FOR HER (and Grace)... she couldn't believe it...
Then last night... Those girls were the "big kids" that Ava begs to play with every time we drive past the game fields on the way to the hospital... Not only was she playing with the big kids - they WANTED to be with her... She was included and embraced and treated like any other kid. That's something she NEVER believed would happen.
On the drive home last night we stopped to eat and Ava said, "Mommy, when I go to college I want to play Volleyball like Amanda."
Jason and I were speechless...
For a year we've been telling Ava that in the United States ALL girls CAN go to college - whether they are sick or not... but for a year it has just been us telling her... She hasn't ever believed that she could go to college - that she'd be allowed to go to college... When someone asks her what she wants to be when she grows up she usually replies, "I'm not going to grow up." Most people think that's cute - thinking that she means she doesn't want to grow up/she wants to stay a kid... but really, it's because she doesn't believe she will LIVE to grow up. So last night when she, for the first time, could picture herself going to college - well, it wasn't just me who got a little teary-eyed.
The experiences we've had with make-a-wish have truly changed her life. Jason and I can love her and tell her that the world is wide open to her now that she's here - but not until she experienced it herself in the form of these amazing little treats (lucky dawg for example) has she believed it.
I also want to thank everyone for letting Grace participate. I'm so proud of the kid she has become over the last year. Going from an only child who had my undivided attention pretty much all the time - to being a sister and having to share everything - and not only being a sister - but the sister of a kid with a chronic, serious illness... she's kind of been through the wringer herself... and then having to watch Ava do all of this cool "stuff" - she's pretty good at being happy for her - but I know it can't always be easy (as if being 9 isn't already hard enough)... so when they let her sit with the team, stand with the team, cheer with them... I know what that meant to her.
Just to round out the experience - both girls are outside in the pouring rain with their new volleyballs, decked out in their autographed sweatshirts playing their new *favorite* sport...
Looking out the window seeing how happy they both are I've realized that simply saying thank you isn't enough.
Christall
Comment