Married to the Empire

Monday, December 8, 2008

Stormtroopers, Miss America, and Kidney Disease

The stormtroopers went to Children's Medical Center of Dallas on Friday for the party the hospital holds for the kids on the day before the Neiman-Marcus Adolphus Children's Parade. They bring some of the patients down to enjoy a time of doing crafts and meeting some of their favorite characters. The stormtroopers are always a big hit.





Miss America, Kirsten Haglund, was also in attendance. She posed with R2-D2, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and my stormtrooper, all wearing her crown. Not many women can say that their husbands have worn Miss America's crown!






My sweet husband sat down to make crowns with the kids. I was laughing because he wound up with pink glitter stuck to his stormtrooper gloves.




A hospital worker asked my stormtrooper, Darth Vader, and R2-D2 to make room visits. As we were getting into the elevator, she told the guys that she was taking them to the cancer and renal/dialysis wards, and they needed to say something if they got queasy at the site of blood and IVs and stuff. I commented that Steven can't be, as dialysis could be in his future someday. She asked why, and Steven told her that he has IgA Nephropathy (a form of kidney disease). She said, "Oh, then you have something in common with these kids!"

We went up to the dialysis room, and Steven was chatting with a Star Wars fan who was hooked up to the dialysis machine. After a moment Steven told the boy, "You know, I have kidney disease, too." The little boy's eyes became huge, and he said, "You do?!" Even stormtroopers have to deal with medical problems. They bumped fists, and Steven moved on to the next patient.

We found out that there is a kidney camp in May where the kids can hang out with other kids dealing with kidney disease. The hospital worker told me it would be so great if a stormtrooper with kidney disease could come out and spend time with the kids. We're going to try to make that happen. I'd never been able to thank God before that my husband is sick, but Friday, I thanked him for the first time.

Finally, I'll leave you with the sweetest image of the day. As we walked down a hospital corridor, we ran into a nurse walking with a little boy. The boy got so excited about seeing Darth Vader, and he came over to take Vader's hand. They walked down the hall hand-in-hand until the boy reached his destination.

5 comments:

*carrie* said...

That's so neat, Anne Marie. What a neat ministry S has!

Anonymous said...

Hi Anne Marie. Great blog of the Children's Hospital visit. I was unable to attend, but you all did a great job.

And yes, God did gave Steven something that these kids could have something in common with. It's funny how the grand design seems to have a purpose.

I'm glad to have a great friend like your "stormtrooper" and can't wait to see you guys again.

Hospital visits are the main reason I joined the ranks of the 501st, and I hope that we do more of them.



~Bobby

Anonymous said...

You don't know me, but I'm a mom with daughters who compete in the Miss America organization. Someone passed on to me your blog so I could see Kirsten. What a wonderful blog, a great testimony as to how God can use what we see as negative (i.e. an illness) and turn it into something good. Thank you for writing & posting the pics!

Anonymous said...

What a nice post! How cool that Steven got to wear the crown (I am jealous, lol). And what a sweet story, how the kids meeting a Stormtrooper with kidney disease can really make their day. And the photo!! The little boy with Darth Vader! It melted my heart - I have a photo of one of my boys, when he was little, holding hands with Darth Vader. Now I am really in a Christmas mood!!

Jennifer said...

How sweet! I know that made those little one's days! My son absolutely lives and breathes everything Star Wars! I showed him your blog and he was in awe! He said, "Mom, that's a real stormtrooper?" with big bright blue eyes!