'07' Dornbecher's Children's Hospital Visit - Feb. 17th.

[guyactor]

Hmm.....to see how much money we could raise!......

We'll miss ya....

Ba

[Sithman]

Count me in!,hopefully as a TB by then^^

[Roadkill_Hermes]

I'm in. I'll be a spotter as usual. 

[guyactor]

Gotcha both. Great!

BA

[tavrikgannon]

In case everyone wonders why their favorite TIE PILOT doesn't do the Doernbecher events, especially this one..... well, let's just say bad memories and the time of year keep me away. Think of me as being with you in spirit....

[Sithman]

We'll miss ya man

[DoubleTap]

I plan on making this one and I'll bring TIE #2. 

[Stomper]

Hey Bill,

It's OK bro', stuff like that can be pretty deeply woven into our "being", and we all have to cope in our own ways... sorry to hear you have unfortunate experiences in that catagory.    It's hard on me seeing sick kids like that and all I'm going to say is, it's a good thing I have a bucket on my head so they (and all of YOU) don't see me crying at times.  The DCH troops we do are bittersweet for me as well, because children shouldn't have to endure or put up with being ill... they should just have to simply be KIDS and enjoy life at that age.

[guyactor]

Not to worry, Bill. Maybe you could join us at a later time. 

Absolutely true....No one deserves to be very ill or go through operations that are serious. We don't have all the answers......

BUT, while we're still on earth, this is one thing we 'can' do for those that do go through them. No, it's not easy seeing them - What makes it worth it for me is how they perceptively change when we come into their room...or drag their IV drip stands into the halls trying to find us......Wow.

Barry

If anyone has trouble pulling up the map, let me know.

[Daverian]

Nick could probably shed more light on this story..as I was just overhearing the conversation...

Last day of OMSI I was working the crowd in line to come into the exhibit and Nick was spotting, and a little girl and her mother came through and got some pictures taken with me. The mom was telling Nick about the little girl. It was difficult to hear thru the bucket, but from what I gathered she was not doing well at DCH, she had a tracheatomy (sp?) and they tried to get her spirits up...She was terrified of Santa, but here came Darth Vader and some Stormtroopers, and she lit up!!!!!   go figure!!. ...Anyway she was thrilled to get some more pictures...I guess it was kind of a "closure" for them as she was recovered...I was sure glad to be a little part of that!!   

-Daverian

[Stomper]

Yes, very true what BOTH of you just said...

That uplifting they get is the "sweet" part of trooping for sick kiddos... the "bitter" part is seeing them having to go through it in the first palce, but the sweet far outweighs the bitter, that's why I troop it when I can!! 

[Sithman]

Nick could probably shed more light on this story..as I was just overhearing the conversation...

Last day of OMSI I was working the crowd in line to come into the exhibit and Nick was spotting, and a little girl and her mother came through and got some pictures taken with me. The mom was telling Nick about the little girl. It was difficult to hear thru the bucket, but from what I gathered she was not doing well at DCH, she had a tracheatomy (sp?) and they tried to get her spirits up...She was terrified of Santa, but here came Darth Vader and some Stormtroopers, and she lit up!!!!!   go figure!!. ...Anyway she was thrilled to get some more pictures...I guess it was kind of a "closure" for them as she was recovered...I was sure glad to be a little part of that!!   

-Daverian

Be glad too Dave,

what happened was the little girl had suffered a very harsh infancy,when she was ONE year old they had her on a tracheatomy and feared that she would not be abel to walk,talk nor have the mental capacities to lead a healthy active life.Well I'm proud to say she proved those doctors wrong!^^She absolutely loved Dave and was very active walking and running and chatting like the little kid she was!^^.To go through something like that or what all these children have to go through makes them real troopers in my opinon,and this is the reason I want to join the 501st...to bring a smile to these little ones faces whenever and where ever I can.

[Stomper]

SHOOT!!  This story reminds me of something that happened that last weekend at OMSI, and was a TOTAL first for me.  I was just standing there in the hallway in my Sandtrooper armor, and all of a sudden I sensed someone was touching me, I don't mean just a quick "touch the plastic", either.  I look down and this little kid was running his palms and fingertips all over my armor, and I realized he was BLIND, and was "looking" at my armor!!  His dad was standing about 4' away and was describing what he was "looking" at.  I asked the kiddo if I could take his hand and show him the rest of my armor, of course he said, yes!!  I guided his fingers over the details of my bucket, the chest and ab-plates, the ammo pouches, my BFG, gloves, etc, while explaining what it was he was "seeing" and what it did... it was an excellent experience (for all of us), and his dad was pretty surprised (and thankful) that I was able to adapt to his son's needs and help make the SW experience REAL for him!  That was a great day! 

[guyactor]

Excellent, Nick and, wow, Tony.

Have an idea - Putting together a type of record...Something to record these experiences of pure human interest. These two stories cross a boundry that is hard to describe - means something. Children who are blind - children who have overcome dibilitating medical circumstances.......

I have no idea what it would look like, but my guess is, it could prove to be very important some day as we look back on them - our time in the 501st. What our love for this 'thing' has done for children and adults alike.

Just thoughts but this record could be another side of the group. Different than the cool pictures we do, etc.

Tony, I'm glad you remembered that. Thanks for the explanation, Nick. I've got a couple also from previous DCH visits.

Also, whatever happened to the 'publicity' notebook some had started to put together?

BA

[Daverian]

Yeah, I was there when the blind boy was touching the sandtroopers armor! In line to go into OMSI, right?
Here is one of my "friends" on myspace:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=79964811&MyToken=739a1c95-cf0d-4740-a24f-1eea879e0423

He is doing a project called "Heart of an Empire"....we should do something similar!!