An Early Christmas Gift

Wow! I can't believe it. It's like a glorious early Christmas present! I feel great joy!! As we prepare to leave our old building and move into our brand new k-12 school, I've been clearing out things in my classroom. Last week, I started going through old 3 inch computer disks to save or delete any items because the new computers do not have 3 inch drives. Imagine my surprise and delight to find pictures taken of Christi, about 8 weeks (July 2002, age 5) before she was diagnosed. It was right when I first got the digital camera and I have no idea why I had that disk at school, but it was awesome to see the photos; however....there was a HUGE problem with the disk.

The photos would flash on the screen and then vanish so I could not save them. I tried to open them at home, without any luck here either. I knew I was desperate, so today I went to our awesome music teacher due to her computer connections. Well that amazing woman didn't need to ask her husband for help, she emailed them to us tonight and we cried seeing those beautiful images of Christi we suspected were forever lost! They showed her picking out Buttercup, taking her to the vet for the very first time. (Christi even wanted to be a vet back then. When she said that girls cannot be doctors, I called the vet and explained that we'd like Christi to have the female vet in the office so she'd not think that girls couldn't do whatever they wanted to do in today's times.) The final picture shows her cuddling with Buttercup - similar to one of the very last pics I have of Christi, with Buttercup resting beside her on the couch before she made that final trip to Philly.

THANK GOD these images were able to be saved! THANK GOD for great friends and their talents!! (Shayla and I took Buckeye to the vet yesterday and we were thrilled to find out that Dr. Jamie had a baby boy last week!! I'm certain Christi is watching over mom and baby!)

Holding them all, trying to decide which kitten to select. Buttercup won, paws down!
Going back to State Rep. Jeff Wagner's barn to bring Buttercup home.
Christi's first visit to a vet
She wore a lot of dresses (because I bought them very inexpensively at garage sales) and that summer and fall wrapped Buttercup up in the dress to "cuddle" and watch TV together.


Shayla absolutely rejoiced in Theaterworks' Production of "A Christmas Carol" in Marion on Sunday! Getting to meet the actors, from NYC, was an additional highlight! We were surprised by the wonderful questions she asked them and they seemed to happy to answer the questions.
Needless to say, Shayla LOVED driving through the Christmas lights in Upper Sandusky. If you get a chance, please go. The donation is $5.00 per car and the tremendous display is "out of this world"!