Have you heard this story? It's been all over the web today, and even when telling Brian about it earlier, I teared up.
It's the story of a 10-year-old girl, Colby Curtin, who suffered from vascular cancer. She was diagnosed three years ago. Here's where it gets bittersweet: Ever since she saw the preview for the new Pixar movie, Up, she wanted to see the film. Her parents were looking forward to taking her to see the theater, but over the last couple weeks, Colby continued to decline in health, and it became clear that she would be too ill to make it to a theater for the movie. A family friend made calls to Pixar, hoping the studio would help grant the girl's dying wish. Pixar came to the rescue. The company sent an employee, with a DVD of the film, to Colby's house on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie. She and her family watched the movie together. Colby died about seven hours later.
And here I get all teary-eyed again, just rereading the article and sharing the story with you. It's weird, how being a mom can change your perspective on something so completely. I would have probably cried over this before I had Sydney, but now, knowing how the simplest things can bring a smile to a child's face, I can only imagine how uplifting it must be for Colby's mother to know that her daughter died having seen the movie she wanted to see so badly. And that Colby was able to stay alive long enough to appreciate the film (she was unable to see it, because her pain was so intense, but she listened, and her mother gave her a play-by-play of the action).
I love that there is such inherent kindness still, in the world. One tends to forget that even though the huge corporations are the newest "big bad," they still are housed by people ... people who care. Colby's friend had to pick someone from Pixar's automated voicemail system to which she could plead her case. From that message, that employee took the situation to whom they could for additional help, and it went "up" the ladder from there. You know there had to have been a suit to approve this action. And that Pixar isn't saying anything about it, or trying to milk any publicity from it, makes it better.
What a fantastic story, even though, as I said, it's bittersweet.
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