by Michelle
27. January 2010 14:51
Today, we give away books to the niece and nephew of Cami – who inspired our 99 books in 33 days. Here is her letter to them. “Dear Taylor and Thomas, You are two very special kids and the best niece and nephew anyone could ask for. I hope you will always remember the trip we took with your mom to Disneyland. We all had such a blast on the rides and eating junk food. But Mickey Mouse evaded us all day. We were on a mission to get your photo taken with him, but he was just too busy elsewhere to grace us with his presence. And then, just as we were about to give up, there he was, standing about ten feet away and there was nobody in line to take pictures. We got that great shot of you guys and your mom wearing your new, personalized mouse ears. It was perfect. You are both growing up so fast and turning into smart and loving young people. Remember that I will always love you and be here for you both. Love, Aunt Cami
The next two books go to Cerriah and Alexis, two amazing and spirited girls. Their mom Gina writes, “Hello! I read your post about the 99 books and I would love to nominate both my girls. Both of my girls were diagnosed with Type I diabetes at a very young age. My oldest, Cerriah was 3 and my middle child, Alexis, was 4 years old. In their lifetime they have endure 6 shots a day and 10 finger pricks a day. That may not seem bad, but when you do the math you see that they have had thousands of shots and finger pricks in their short lives. Cerriah has almost lost her battle numerous times. In 2008 we had the ambulance at our house every month. My neighbors already knew to come and take care of my other kids when they saw the flashing lights. Cerriah had strep on her blood stream and nearly passed away. Her temperature when we got to the hospital was 106.8 . That's not a typo. Life is never dull in this household! Both girls take their diabetes like champs. They never complain, take shots and blood draws better than most adults, and are always watching their carbohydrate intakes.
Although life is tough for them, they never take life for granted. Both girls have over 900 hours of community service and have raised thousands of dollars for various charities. Alexis won a national award in 2008 for her community service and Cerriah won a national academic and volunteer award in 2009! They have their own organization where they collect books and bears for hospitalized children. Being on the receiving end of books and bears has made their hospital stay a little brighter, so they wanted to make sure they extended that same experience to other kids.I thank you for the opportunity to share our stories. I am sure you have thousands of emails, but it felt good just getting this all off my chest. I have amazing girls that never let their "dis" ability affect their perception of this world.
Thank you Cami and Gina for your nominations for 99 in 33. We are praying for little Cerriah and Alexis. We hope your Memoir of Me books bring you special moments to share together. Love, Michelle
