My passion in life is working with families touched by Special Needs. As we have taken Angel on various cruises, she has had the opportunity to meet many various colorful Characters. Once the Character walks out and she sees them, she immediately begins jumping up and down and with her arms clinched tight to her chest she screeches, and her arms shake with excitement!
Watching Angel dance and interact with the Characters such as Shrek, Puss n Boots, and the Disney Princesses is a show to be seen by all! The joy on her face as they dance and have that personal interaction with her is priceless! I remember dining at The Grand Floridian Resort in Florida, and in comes Prince Charming. Not all children get a chance to dance with the Prince, but Angel was lucky enough to get not only one dance, but two!!!! She was so excited!! The joy and elation on her face, brought tears to my eyes, not just this time, but many times when I see my daughter that usually fights with voices in her little head, actually finding moments of peace and comfort and true joy!!! Most people will not understand these feelings but if you happen to be in an area where we are and Angel is there, you will get it! You will experience the same joy that I feel! We have had many people on the cruises come up and tell us what a Blessing she is and how much they enjoyed watching her just interact with the characters.
When there are no characters available, we take Angel to the music hall at night and all ships have venues with live bands and such. Angel loves music, she likes it with a strong beat and will jump out in the middle of the dance floor and just dance her heart out! Last cruise, Angel met at least 2 other girls that were touched by some sort of special need. They danced together and to see my child that never really wants to be with other kids her age dancing and having a good time was Amazing! This joy of seeing her connect briefly with someone else through music and dance was perfect! She doesn’t care who is watching or what they think, I believe in her mind, the music and dancing and crowd is there just for her! I wish we all could feel so carefree and just enjoy life and cruising as Angel does!
