This month my Songs of Life group was asked to shoot for the song “Dream” by Priscilla Ahn.
To me, this song is all about being a little girl who has a big dreams for her life. That fits Elayna pretty well. She has a lot of big dreams for her life. When we talk about the future she tells me that she wants to get to grow up and be a mommy and a teacher, and I pray with every fiber of my being that her dreams come true.
For my own dreams, I just want her to be able to grow up and be healthy. A year ago I might have had loftier goals for my only child, but things get simpler when you are faced with difficult truths about the fragility of life.
This weekend we were blessed to get to go to family camp through Children’s Cancer Connection. CCC is a local organization that works very hard to give families of children fighting cancer things to do where they can connect and feel normal. It was humbling to meet many other children (and their families) who had fought, or are fighting, cancer.
I was thinking about this song while we were there and I was watching the kids. I kept thinking about the idea of having big dreams, and about how quickly perspective can change in regards to what that means. It was freeing to be able to sit around with a group of people and talk openly about life with a child who has been faced with fighting cancer. The things discussed around the campfire weren’t the academic scores or sports successes of our children, but instead about their treatment and how our family was weathering the storm. We have different dreams now for our kids. Simpler dreams.
You know what’s really amazing though? Elayna’s dreams are the same now as they were before. She continues to simply live her life, and I love that. The same is true of the other kids who she met and instantly befriended this weekend. They are still kids being kids. They still pretend, laugh, run, play, experience, and dream, like any other kid their age.
Elayna had a blast this weekend. She got to go horseback riding, make s’mores around the campfire, go on a long adventure hike, play many camp games with her friends, sew and craft, and (most amazing for her) she climbed a 40 foot rock-wall and was over-the-moon happy and proud of herself.
I continue to be so thankful for her ability to be a little girl who has big dreams.
2 responses to “Dream ~ Songs of Life”
Lucy these are amazing. Her story is so inspirational and you capture it SO well. I love this!
I looked at these when you first shared them, but I couldn't comment on them at the time. I adore these pictures! What a gift these wonderful organizations are to children who have to deal with things that they never should have to deal with. E looks like she had an amazing time, and I know that all of you will cherish these photos forever. The color one of her sitting on the dock – I love that picture so much. She looks so content and happy.