Love Is...

This was taken from Don's blog yesterday....

Love Is........

How do you define love? Is it something you can see? Something you can touch? Or is it just a feeling? Many say it is none of the above but merely a state of mind. I say it something you can touch, something you can see. You just have to look in the right place and open you mind. How do I know this, read on:

We are in Key Largo, FL spending a week here with Katie while she is doing dolphin assisted therapy. We did this 3 years ago and are kicking ourselves for not coming back sooner. Anyway, the first time we were here, Katie spent the week with a wonderful dolphin named Squirt and her calf Fiji. We could tell that something special was going on from the moment Katie got on the platform to get in the water. She could not wait and had no fear of being next to the dolphins.

That week was a wonderful and magical time. You could see the bond that Katie made with Squirt and the entire staff at Island Dolphin Care. The high point of the week was on Wednesday. You see, the dolphin will only do what the trainer on the platform tells them to do. They are trained that way. It is a safety issue of course. Well, half way through her time in the water that day, Katie, in loudest voice said, “I love you Squirt, you’re my best friend”. Squirt stopped in the water half way between the platform the trainer was on and where Katie was. She looked at the trainer then back to Katie. Leeann and I were confused as to what was going on, but the trainer just nodded her head yes and Squirt swam over and gave a Katie a kiss.
Not a big deal you say, well it is. You see that had only happened one, let me repeat that ONE other time at Island Dolphin Care. Everyone who saw it was in tears and when the trainer told us how special that was, Leeann and I both started to cry.
We have always said that Katie has a special connection to animals. Look at her room, it looks like stuffed animal kingdom in there sometimes. You should see her at the farm with the horses, it’s almost like she talks to them at times. But this, this was so different.



Well, that was three years ago. We had been trying for the past 3 years to go back but the timing was never right. This year everything fell into place and we were able to make it back. It worked out well since this is Katie’s fall break, so no school was missed. One thing we were worried about was if Katie would remember much about the dolphins or if the dolphins would remember Katie. We weren’t sure she would even get to be with Squirt this time. Much to our surprise, Katie remembered it all the moment she walked in the door. She remembered the tanks in the lobby, she remembered where the dolphins were at and couldn’t wait to get to them. But most of all, she was going to be with Squirt again.

Katie got in the water with Squirt and she was right at home. But the minute she said, “Squirt, I love you”, Squirt knew just who Katie was. The trainer, Wendy, looked at us and said “now I remember her and so does Squirt”. She wasn’t kidding either. It was almost like Katie was one of her own calf’s. Squirt could not get close enough to Katie. She was always checking on how Katie was doing, where she was and allowing Katie to touch her and hold her in places she won’t let others. Even the owners of the facility came out to watch and talked about the bond between Katie and Squirt.

That bond is so strong that today the trainer and the therapist in the water with Katie just let them do their own thing. Katie would ask if she could do something and the trainer would give a quick hand signal and that was it. They danced in the water together, Squirt took Katie around the lagoon a couple of times and they both laughed and smiled together. It was almost like they were meant to be with each other.

Tomorrow, they are going to allow Squirt to dive with Katie. Only two other kids have ever done this before. Katie is in here element here. Katie is truly happy here and in the water with Squirt.

I have attached a photo of the two of them dancing in the water. Look at it with the mind of a child, look at it with the mind of a parent who wants nothing but the best for their child and I know you will see LOVE. But, most of all, you will know that for this week, Katie can touch love. And for this week, love is named SQUIRT.

Island Dolphin Care

It was an amazing day today! If it’s possible, I think I truly forgot how magical this experience was three years ago. We are back in Key Largo, FL at Island Dolphin Care, doing Dolphin Assisted Therapy for Katie. I don’t think this could have come at a better time either. Katie has really hit a rough patch and is really struggling.

She is struggling in school both academically and socially. She is struggling with her increasing frustration level. She is having sleep disturbances again. It’s been a tough couple of weeks leading up to this trip. We’ve been working closely with her teachers and therapists but nothing has been working.



But, once she eased into the lagoon off the floating dock today and made her first contact with Squirt, the same dolphin she swam with three years ago… nothing else in life really seem to matter that much… at least for the hour this morning.



The dolphin trainer, Wendy, is convinced that after a few minutes with Katie, that Squirt actually had recognition for Katie. Three years ago, on Wednesday, Katie told Squirt “I love you, Squirt, you are my best friend” and Squirt looked at Wendy for permission and swam over to Katie and gave her a kiss. Squirt has only done that on one other occasion.



Katie actually got to do the dorsal swim unassisted today and because Wendy is convinced of the connection between Squirt and Katie and feels that Squirt loves Katie as well… she may get to do some things unassisted this week.



Squirt had a baby calf 7 weeks ago and she’s a tiny one. They haven’t even named her yet… they actually just found out this weekend that she’s a female. Deena, one of the owners, wants to name the baby Lotus, for the Lotus Petal in Egypt and there is a whole story to that but once she told Katie the story behind the name – Katie is going to help Deena convince the rest of the staff that the baby dolphin should be named Lotus.



Don and I got to spend more time today than we did the entire week in 2005 with Peter and Deena. They are the owners and they are amazing people with an incredible, inspiring story.



We met a couple of really nice families. One from upstate New York and one from Switzerland. When we were here in 2005, we didn't meet any of the families. They weren't very open to chatting and we had Gran with us. When we got to the facility this morning, the family from Switzerland was already there and the mom seemed so nice and friendly so I walked over to her and started chatting and she said "no englis". Oh! Shoot! But then the dad started talking to me in moderately good english and so I was chatting up a storm with him. Don later informed me that he thinks the guy was just smiling and nodding at a lot of what I said in my fast, southern chatty style. Well, he was very pleasant and nice even if that was the case.

They are having a big cookout on Wednesday for the families which is something that they didn't do when we were here before so maybe we will bridge that communication barrier then! They seemed so nice!

I almost can’t even put into words how special this place is. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week holds.

I hope some of our family will get to experience this someday. I know Katie's three grandmother's and her other great grandmother would love seeing her with the dolphins. I know my dad would love it! Anyone who loves Katie would love being here!

LA :)

PS - Here is our view out our living room or master bedroom in our condo... our condo that we got at a VERY reduced price since we are an Island Dolphin Care family. :)

Good Things Are Happening

We are making a return trip to Island Dolphin Care next week. We leave tomorrow and starting Monday - Katie will have five days of Dolphin Assisted Therapy.

She went in June of 2005 and Gran went with us. It had only been seven months since my grandfather passed away and it was the last "big" trip she ever took with us. She frustrated me so many times that week but we also made some wonderful memories and it meant the world to her to see Katie do something so special.

It was that time that Katie had with those two dolphins in June 2005 that made us realize that animals are definitely Katie's real passion. She is happiest, full of joy, wonder, true focus and determination when she is working with animals.

Here is a short video clip that Don did. Couple of things - I weigh 140 pounds LESS than I did in this video... 150 if you believe that the camera adds 10! ;) That's embarrassing to admit but I'm proud of my accomplishment even though I can't seem to get this last 30-40 pounds off!

Also, he did this before becoming a professional certified Final Cut Pro editor. It will be fun to see what footage he gets this trip. Hopefully it will be some footage Island Dolphin Care can use.

Click here for the video.

Give the video a few seconds to load.

When we return from our trip - he's meeting with STAR to work with them on doing a promotional video for fundraising and marketing purposes.

Also, he's going to be working with my trainer, Mike Branch, to do some videos of him working with wild mustangs for the Bureau of Land Management.

Mike is WONDERFUL!! I can't tell you the things that I am learning from him. I thought I was loving Sunny and Belle before... it's amazing now. Sunny is still at STAR but it's remarkable the connection I have with Belle. I can get her to do things by just projecting my energy at her... natural horsemanship is the most incredible thing I've ever learned how to do... but I still have a long way to go.

Katie is doing well in school. She is working hard every day! It's a struggle and she's not really working on grade level for anything other than science and social studies but she is making a lot of progress and at the end of the day - that is what matters.

My dad and Marilyn were just here for a few days and my dad is BACK. When I saw him this past August, he was weak and frail and his personality was non-existent. His personality is back! He's feeling good! He's got a lot of energy again!! It's been a rough year for him but his last PET Scan in September still showed no signs of the cancer having spread which was THE BEST news!!

We spent a lot of time with Gran while he was here. That was good but also very hard. Her memory is continuing to decline at a rapid rate. It's like Groundhog Day, over and over again. Same questions, same statements every five minutes. She actually didn't recognize us at first when we got there to pick her up. A week ago she was calling me her niece and couldn't remember my name. But, she is happy in the moment and she is being VERY well cared for. Like with Katie, at the end of the day, that is what really matters for now.

Overall, like I said, good things are happening! Life is good and we are very blessed!

LA :)

A Game of Meme: Scattegories Edition

Wanna Play? Here are the rules:

* Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions.
* They have to be real places, names, things. nothing made up!
* You can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.
* Tag at least 5 people to play along

1. What is your name? Leeann
2. A 4 Letter Word: Love
3. A Boys Name: Liam
4. A Girls Name: Lily
5. An Occupation: Lobbyist
6. A Color: Lilac
7. Something you wear: Lipstick (but not on a pig)
8. A Beverage: Long Island Ice Tea
9. A Food: Lasagna
10. Something found in the bathroom: Lights
11. A place: Lexington
12. A Reason for being late: Lounging
13. Something you shout: Laugh out loud (often)!!

Here are my buddies that I’m tagging…

1. Don
2. Sheila
3. Lisa
4. Lynne
5. Rose
6. Jen
7. Kathy
8. Kim
9. Richelle
10. Pam

And anyone else who wants to play. Don’t feel like you have to post this on your blog. It might easier to just cut and paste the questions and leave them as a comment. Also tag others only if you want to. :-D

I Love STAR

Here is a promotional video demonstrating the benefits of a child with special needs being at STAR.

I can't tell you the difference it's made in Katie's life. Mine too!



LA :)