Eliza

When going to school @ the U, I got involved with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and Nikki Norman was one of the older girls when I joined. I remember one night they had all of us gather in a circle outside the house and no one really knew what was going on. There were all of us girls forming a tight circle on the lawn and all of a sudden we saw Nikki's face get red and her eyes really sparkled and into the circle waltzed... a guy! Callahan Williams. With the world's largest bouquet of red roses and... a ring. On bended knee he proposed to Nikki and I remember the feeling that night; I could sense the love oozing from this couple and there was really something about them that was different.

Anyway, that is the memory I have of Nikki and Callahan but I haven't really seen her since she got married around 7-ish years ago. I just got an email from a friend who sent a link to a Desert news article about Nikki, Callahan, and their little girl Eliza. I have been in a complete wash of tears; this story is heartwrenching but incredible... their daughter Eliza has been diagnosed with late-infantile Metachromatic Leukodystrophy. There is a lot to this disease and so instead of trying to explain all of this, I will provide the link to the story from the Deseret News this past June:

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700234571,00.html

I post the newspaper article first because it is a segue into the family's website and story. If you don't visit the above link, at least PLEASE visit this one:

http://www.elizaswish.org

There is a way to contribute to this beautiful family; to Eliza and her cause. Because Eliza loves to read, they've started "Eliza's Library" to gather thousands of books in her honor to be donated to special needs classes throughout Utah. Here is cute Eliza:



Honestly I have been fascinated by this story and despite it bringing on a ball-fest it has once again turned my thoughts to what matters while we are here on this earth. We are here to love first and foremost. If you view the pictures at elizaswish.org you can sense the angel that is Eliza! You can tell she is full of patience and love and so are her parents; they are outstanding! You'll see what I mean!

Not only can you purchase books to donate but you can also snag one of these awesome ** COURAGE ** bracelets at $1 each, with the proceeds going to purchase more books.



To Eliza and the Williams family... you are an inspiration... here's to many more days spent reading with Mom, painting nails with Dad, and blowing bubbles into the great wide open!