osk: Saturday, Part Two: Meeting Pippa's Boys

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Saturday, Part Two: Meeting Pippa's Boys

Bum-ba-dum-dum-dum! Bum-dum-da-dum-dum-dum! It's THE BIG EVENT!

Drumroll, Orri!

Pippa had painted pictures for each of them.

Pippa and Jónsi's "completely expressionless" dog. He's a cute guy, but he only has one expression. Pippa loved him!

Pippa said, "I love Jónsi." Alex said, "I think he loves you too, Pippa."

Both Orri and Pippa have big, black cats. Orri was showing her a picture of his.

We had such a nice, casual afternoon with the guys and their families (except Orri's family, who were all feeling under the weather). The kids watched Elf and Frozen, while we adults talked and laughed and had just a nice, cozy time. Everyone was just as kind as we had heard they would be, and being together was like we were meeting old friends.

Thank you, Jónsi, Orri, Georg, and Kári, and your families. Thank you to Dean O'Connor for telling us from the start that this could happen. You are some of the kindest, sweetest people we have ever met. Thank you for giving up some of your precious time off to make our girl happy. She loves you all so much and still talks about you all the time.

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Why We Are Here

Pippa was born with a Grade III brain bleed caused by a lack of oxygen. This brain injury led to her being diagnosed with cerebral palsy just before her second birthday and shortly after turning 4, she was diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, a rare and severe form of intractable epilepsy.

She had a wish to go to Iceland because of her love of Sigur Rós. Pippa's grandpa Barton wrote a referral to a certain large wish-granting organization and was very specific about her unusual wish from the start. This organization deemed her medically eligible and told us that her wish would be granted. We were very disappointed when a rep from our state's chapter of this organization said that her wish could not be granted because they don't send children to Iceland (and I won't even get into the details of her callous, condescending attitude).

An outraged friend channeled her upset into an online fundraiser that raised all of the money for Pippa's trip — and then some. About halfway into the fundraiser, the larger organization told us that we had been misinformed and that they could actually send Pippa to Iceland after all. (Insert exasperated sigh.) At nearly the same time, thanks to a flurry of donations, including from Sigur Rós themselves, we made the majority of our goal in one insanely wild weekend. Once the fundraiser was all done, we were able to tell them to give the money to another child as we wouldn't be needing it.

Although the whole experience started with frustration and heartache, we all believe that this is the way things were meant to be. We have gained friends in Iceland before even setting foot there, and we have been showered with so much love and generosity that has humbled us and made us beyond grateful. This blog will cover our trip in photos and in words. This is the story of how a wish came true.