Angels among us

Another day...another front page story for Sahara...who isn't bald in the photo. That's Shannon. Whew! http://www.semissourian.com/story/1201499.html

This weekend, a band of angels descended on the Aldridge household! Oh, they were cleverly disguised as volunteers from Make-A-Wish, but I know better. :) Every time I think this family can't be any more blessed, something even more wonderful happens.

Our family room was transformed into an amazing living space for Sahara, with a beautiful daybed, a new sofa, a flat screen tv, new window treatments, gorgeous accessories...even a mini-fridge!

I think the sweetest part of her wish was the dinette table, which has "The Aldridge Family" carved into the tiles. And the paint...unbelievable. You have to see the photos to truly appreciate all the work they did...and you can do that at www.semissourian.com if you haven't done so already! The paper sent another photographer today to shoot the "final" photos. They couldn't do that last night...because our poor volunteers worked until the horrid hour of 4 am. Wow. I think all of the photos will be up on the website on Monday.

They came back this morning to do the unveiling for Sahara. She lit up and smiled the biggest smiles I've seen in quite some time. To top it all off, she was served chocolate cake to celebrate. She hadn't had cake in a loooong time, so it tasted extra good. :)

We spent the day taking it all in, sometimes just looking around the room and shaking our heads at how pretty it is now. Sahara says it's her West Coast dream room. It really does have a kind of California vibe to it. It's bright, cheery and full of love, just like her.

We can never fully express our gratitude to Make-A-Wish for fulfilling Sahara's dream of a room makeover. Vickie Hoernig from Perryville - you were involved from the start, and you did such an outstanding job...God bless you! Julie Breshears from Make-A-Wish headquarters in Springfield - we are so glad you came to Cape. It was such a pleasure to meet you - the organization is made even better because of you! Bethany and Mike Earley, our design and construction team - you truly do need your own TV show, because you certainly created a miracle in our basement! To John Forbes and the crew from Best Buy - thank you for going above and beyond in order to get things finished. To Mike Cutright and our other fantastic volunteers, please know that your hard work and hours spent at our home will never be forgotten. To all the vendors who donated materials, furniture and everything that came together so beautifully, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

Bethany is also going to design the bathroom for Sahara!! That will be our project now and we are looking forward to making it accessible just as soon as we can.

As I type this at 1:30 am, Sahara is sleeping soundly in her new daybed. She looks so comfortable and I know she is snoozing very well tonight. And I know that by 8 am in the morning, she'll be watching Animal Planet on that cool new TV. Her world is bigger and brighter now thanks to the generosity and love of so many people.

We are, again, so richly blessed.

With love,
Amy