Make a wish/LEANNA

[Guest guest]

I wanted to share the good news with all of you. Leanna got

an above ground swimming pool and a sundeck from Make a wish foundation just in

time for the summer. It is all ready and waiting. The foundation was so awesome

with her and made it so easy. It is hard enough to come to grips with the

reality that your child actually qualifies for a wish. All of my life I always

thought “ what an awesome foundation they must be” but never ever

thought they would be part of my life. They are a blessing. Leanna has her

birthday this Wednesday. She will be 7. What a blessing. She is getting all the

stuff a little girl could possibly ever need for a pool from friends and

family. We share so much sadness on this group that I wanted to share

something good with everyone. I pray to God that she gets many, many summers of

use out of it. The above ground swimming pool was actually initially

Samya’s wish. Samya could never find a sport she was good at and

liked. We had bought the girls thos small blow up pools from Costco and put it

up for 3 summers. Every summer , Samya would feel a little more comfortable in

the water. Finally, the summer before she died, I had found a private swim

school that worked with disabled kids. Samya loved it and actually did well in

it. By the end of the summer, she had been able to swim for about a foot by

herself. That was a huge accomplishment for her, She was so excited because she

graduated from the class and was going to start the next level. She had never

ever done so well in something like that before. We had promised her that since

she did so well, we would put aside $5,000 for an above ground swimming pool

and sundeck for the following summer. Now I realize plans cannot

Be made that far advance in my life. Back then, I was not “dealing

with mito”.

That September she got sick, and died that December. The following summer,

Leanna reminded us of our promise. Children are so innocent. Well, after

burying a child, there is not much money left for things like “ swimming

pools”. I was encouraged to contact the foundation from a friend. To be

honest, I did not want that pool without Samya here to enjoy it. Leanna kept

pushing us, and I finally realized that this can’t be about me.

Everything we did reminded us of Samya. Was this going to be any different or

worse.

WE decided that we had

to put leanna’s needs first because we don’t know how long we have

her for. Surely, Samya would want Leanna to have this. I found the courage to

call them and they did it for Leanna. I am grateful to them. I can’t

explain to you the ache in my heart I felt when It was finished. I could just

see Samya with a big smile on her face. How excited she would have been. The

tears flowed down my eyes, fresh and painful, but as parents, do we really have

a choice. We must put aside our pain for the sake of joy for our sick

children. I am sorry this turned out to be so long, it was not my

intention.

THANKS Make a WISH!!!

Suhad Haddad -- Mom to Samya (Died 12-10-02 of Leigh's Synd.) &

Leanna with same disease.

Samya's Memorial Site: www.Samya.org

Email:

Suhad1970@...

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AiM Chat: Suhad1970