Audrey Hepburn 2015

Having a medically fragile child with a terminal illness is challenging. Her daily medical care is intense. She’s on a ventilator because she can’t breathe on her own. She’s fed through a feeding tube because she can’t eat by mouth. We do frequent respiratory interventions because she can’t swallow, cough and clear her secretions. We move her because she can’t move on her own. We encourage her to DREAM BIG because her mind is just like any other girl her age.

We searched through hundreds of costumes this year and asked Scarlett to pick out a costume. Scarlett has a wild imagination so we assumed she would pick an elaborate costume but she chose Audrey Hepburn. I couldn’t contain my excitement. Who doesn’t love Breakfast at Tiffany’s? I wanted to bring this costume to life so I reached out to a friend that works at Tiffany’s. I asked her if we could take pictures in front of the store? She said that she could do something even more special for Miss Scarlett and to just show up at the store.

We dressed up Scarlett in her Audrey Hepburn costume, packed up our mini ICU on her wheelchair and headed down to TIFFANY’S! We were all giddy with excitement as we drove downtown. When we arrived, the store manager greeted Scarlett with a gift (from my friend) and a bunch of lollipops wrapped in Tiffany’s ribbon. Scarlett was in heaven at this point. Sparkly Tiffany’s Jewelry + Lollipops = Happiness. We then wheeled Scarlett around the entire store so she could peek in all of the jewelry cases. Everything was so sparkly and shiny. The manager asked Scarlett if she wanted to try on some diamond jewelry and Scarlett’s eyes lit up! What girl would turn down jewels from Tiffany’s? Then came the iconic blue bags and the pretty blue boxes with the white ribbons. Before we knew it her wheelchair was covered in Tiffany’s! Tiffany’s let us take pictures of the entire experience (they normally do not allow pictures in the store but they let us snap away).

The entire day was just MAGICAL and we made memories that we will treasure forever. Scarlett’s disease has robbed her of so many things but they made us forget all about SMA for a little bit. Thank you Tiffany’s for making my little girl feel so special!!! ‪

“I believe in being STRONG when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that HAPPY girls are the PRETTIEST girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I BELIEVE in MIRACLES.” – Audrey Hepburn