By Cathy Klein

I have just returned from Dreams Take Flight’s one-day trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I escorted Avery, a student in my Developmental Education class. Avery is a six-year-old boy with Angelman Syndrome. He cannot walk and is confined to a wheelchair. He is fed through a stomach tube.

Avery wears a lot of green and we’ve nicknamed him “bean sprout”. He does not speak using words but like all the children in my class, he communicates. He loves people, especially children. He reaches out to others and he gives them a smile and a touch. In short, he is simply a “giver”, and a wonderful little boy.

It all started with me “talking up” all the children that I was responsible for choosing for this year’s trip to Disney. My first priority was to find some students from the 13 developmental education classes in our school board. The children had to fit the criteria of being mentally, physically or socially disadvantaged and they had to be able to sit on an airplane seat.

I did not have a candidate from my class until one day Betty, the class nurse, piped up with “What if”. “What if I (Betty) took the day off and escorted Avery? This would solve the nursing problem.” Ya gotta love those “what ifs”. And so I went to Avery’s parents. Naturally they were apprehensive and skeptical.

But I had history on my side – I had taken four children last year and they had all come home in one piece, no worse for the wear. Avery’s mom was concerned that he would be sick or that he would just sleep all day. I just kept saying “What if”. What if he stayed awake, and what if he was well enough to travel? The dream was building. Finally Avery’s parents agreed to fill in the forms. “You can always back out if he gets sick at the last moment but WHAT IF he is well?”

Well, you know what? Avery did make it. At 5:00 a.m. on November 6th, Avery was carried up the steps of the Air Canada plane. And this is what happened: Avery had the day of his life. I have been with Avery for three years and I had never seen this side of him. He stayed awake all day. He was focused. He laughed and he smiled. When it got a wee bit scary, he just looked at us with a stern stare as if to say “what the heck is going on?”

He went on many wonderful rides and watched a parade. He snuggled with Disney characters and showed us that he was having the time of his life. I was so amazed that I called his mom from Disney to tell her about her little man! At one point near the end of the day we were sitting at a café with the Disney castle in the background and fireworks lighting the sky. I turned to Avery and I simply said to him (with tears in my eyes) “Avery, thank you for this day!”

So this little boy, on this day, had a dream. The dream was bigger than him. It was for his mom and dad and his brother and sister. It was for his nurse and his teacher. It was for all of us who believe in celebrating the magic of dreams, big and small, every day. Thank you Avery, for once again you have shown us that you are a giver and a dreamer. Thank you for helping us to see that life is beautiful.