Dream night is celebrated at zoos across the world and we got to go for the first time this year this past June. Dream Night allows children who have chronic diseases or disabilities to spend time at a special evening with their families at the zoo. Grace got an invitation to go this year. Akron Children's Hospital and the Akron Zoo had dinner for us and opened the zoo after hours. They brought several mascots in from the various sports teams around the area - Grace kept yelling "high five!" to all of the mascots. They had face painting, crafts and the kids could ride the carousel and the train as much they wanted. Grace didn't want to linger too long looking at the animals, but she seemed to really enjoy her time at the zoo. Grace is still at a point where taking her places is sometimes difficult, so this really was a perfect visit for us.
It turned out to be a very humbling night for me as well - Humbled by all the volunteers that gave of their time, so we could have such a nice night. But more humbled by the families that were in attendance, some of the children had very life threatening conditions. For many of them, this is the only night each year that their family can go out together anywhere. Sometimes Spina bifida is no picnic and having a child going through some pretty big adjustments to their new life is no picnic either, but seeing all the other children sure gave us a different perspective of our own struggles. Many thanks to the Akron Zoo and Akron Childrens Hospital for such a wonderful night!
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