The Big Unveiling: Part II

The BIG SURPRISE!

Last week Tuesday (the 11th) a gift finally found its home in Ellie's room that had been waiting to be delivered for over a year. Shortly after the New Year of '07 I received a call from some of the folks at Meredith Corporation from the Parents Branding team. They had heard of my story through a few different channels and really felt compelled to help out in any way they could, but they didn't know how right away. The right opportunity presented itself and they gave me a call right away.

It turned out that they had just finished taking pictures of one of their newest products and didn't have anywhere to store it and would usually have put it up for internal sale for the employees. Considering my situation and that Ellie didn't have anything yet, they wanted to donate to Ellie when her room was ready. I thought that was a great gesture, one that caught me off guard and I about lost it. It's those 'girly' moments that Ellie will have that I usually feel the hurt the deepest. Those are the moments that 'Mom' is supposed to share with their daughters. Sure dad can have them too, but they were the moments that Leslie absolutely lived for and so looked forward to sharing with Gabrielle. Here were folks that saw a void in a part of life that I wouldn't necessarily know what or how to give my little girl and gave me that. They gave me more than just a toy, they gave me the thoughtful package that covered it all - all the pieces, all the correct designs that girls like things I don't know about - and all I needed to do was show up with my little angel and be willing to play. Amazing. So many people have worked so hard so that I can one day just show up and play - I still don't know how to take that gift sometimes without getting all mushy.

Back to the story. The woman from Meredith named Sondra told me that she understood that I was still looking at bare studs (I don't think she fully understood just HOW MANY I was looking at though) and the when I had Ellie's room ready she would love to deliver the gift in person. I thought that was amazing and absolutely agreed that it should be a special time away from even the 'reveal' of the room to Ellie. every couple of months Sondra would write and ask how things were progressing and if the room was ready or not. Ever patient, she would always respond to my 'not yet' with the usual, well it's still waiting for you whenever it works best.

Well last week I gave the much anticipated shout to Sondra that the room was ready, Ellie had already seen her room (and loved it as you know) and it was time for another surprise for Ellie. She was completely excited, but her schedule was crazy busy and might be a challenge to get the whole team there. I told her whatever she wanted to do for scheduling was great by me since she had waited so patiently for me. We set the date for the 11th at 4:00. I was to pick up Ellie from Daycare and head over.

Ellie and I headed over last Tuesday to see what new 'prise? Daddy' was waiting. We arrived and saw that Toye and Barry were there and had set everything up, but Sondra was not able to attend because of business. We ran upstairs and went into the room to see a huge shape covered with a blanket. Getting behind it, we pulled back the cover to reveal a HUGE doll house that had everything from a sink and bath tub to stairs and even patio furniture! Man, this house has more in it than my real house. Ellie squealed with excitement and couldn't stop asking ' play Daddy, Play with me?!' Needless to say it was a huge hit.
The unveiling begins.../Ready? Set..

Oooh IT'S A DOLL HOUSE/Look at all the cool pieces!

The gift in perfect presentation/Thank you Meredith Parents Branding


Ellie and I have spent quite a bit of time in her new room playing with all of her new toys. Thank you all for you generosity. I honestly can't say thank you enough. My little girl has never stopped smiling throughout this whole ordeal and a lot of it is because you all never stopped sharing your smiles with us.