When we move beyond our fears and embrace our dreams, the Universe has an odd way of not only supporting us but giving us more opportunities than we ever imagined.

Our Family Journey

The day that changed everything

Our life together had begun as planned.  My husband, Dave, was happily teaching high school as his father had done.  I was working (fill in this blank).  We had a healthy (?) year old son, Devon.  I was pregnant with a daughter.  Our family was going to be perfect with a boy and girl.  Then  . . . (fill in this blank please)  (End with the doctor's diagnosis)

What in God's Name do we do now?

To be the parents of a severely disabled child had never been in our plans.  But here we were.  Shocked.  Stunned.  Terrified.  I could go on forever and never adequately describe the feelings we had.
Yet our newborn child was to us a "bundle of joy".  We could not help but love our child.
We wanted to face reality but we also wanted to find hope for our child.  We plagued our doctors with questions.  We read everything we could find.  And, with no idea what the future might bring, we began our extraordinary journey.

Kasenya shows us the way

We were determined to pursue every possible avenue to make our daughter's life as normal as possible.
Our determination, however, has never matched hers.
And her enthusiasm infected us.
She entered every treatment, every therapy with a will.
Before long we realized that we were raising a special little lady.
We were, and still are, in awe of her.

Disability - yes . . .  Handicap - no!

As a child Dave had spent 3? years in Jamaica while his father taught school there.  It was his first experience of a different culture.  It made him want to see more, to see as much of the world as possible.
I shared his curiosity and when we married, travel was an important part of our future plans.
At Kasenya's birth all personal aspirations were set aside.  Before long, though, we started to think that we could try to travel with her.
The rest is history.
Best of all . . .
All parents hope that they can share their interests with their children.  We have been blessed with two children who share our love of travel.

Our travels took us to Southeast Asia

Vietnam is a beautiful country with stunning scenery, bustling cities, wonderful cuisine and welcoming people.
We fell in love with the country.
But then . . . we heard the term they use to describe children with cerebral palsy.  I won't repeat it.  I will only say that we were deeply dismayed.
When we returned home I could not get that out of my mind.  I desperately wanted to do something to change it.  But . . .what?
I spoke with professionals in Canada and Vietnam and over time the plan for this foundation came together.
This has become my life's work.
Knowing that we have enhanced the lives of children with cerebral palsy - knowing that we have given hope to their parents - gives me great joy.
What excites me most is that we can do a lot more in the future.