So we all know what its like on this side of the costume, but heres what happens on the other side. I know its very long, but please read it. It is the closest thing Ive saw that explains the magic of Disney. Edit: just to make this clear this isnt my story, explained in post 3 in comments. So during my first CP, I was working at Chef Mickeys one morning. Im doing the rotation, see a family with a girl who was really sick. Like, family was feeding her using a g-tube, she was in a wheelchair, didnt respond to much. She was fussy, so I indicated to the family that Ill pass their table, then come back to them (how do you do that? You point in the direction youre going to go, make a circle motion around the section, then gesture that youll come back here). About 10 minutes later, my attendant comes up to me, and says Princess (name) would like to see you now. So I go over to the family. The mom told me that Minnie Mouse was the girls favorite character, can I take some pictures with her? Of course! So the older brother (teenager) is filming all of this, and Im interacting with the girl, and the girl smiles. The mom starts bawling, the dad starts crying. Once I take a few pictures with the girl, I go to hug the mom, who hugged me back tight and said the doctors said she couldnt smile anymore. Thank you. Then when I went to hug the dad, he hugged me back tight and said thank you. So much. You have no idea what this means to us. Folks, theres a difference when a person is talking to the character, talking to the person in the costume, and talking to YOU. The dad was talking to ME. So I go back on rotation, cursing that I cant wipe the tears out of my eyes. The next day, I go into work, and the check in person says do you know where the managers office is? They want to talk to you. My first thought was oh s**t. What did I do? I go to the managers office, and he closes the door behind me. You were Minnie at Chef Mickeys yesterday for breakfast, right? Yes. Did you meet a Give Kids The World family? Yes. Give Kids called us yesterday afternoon. They wanted to make sure you were personally thanked, with a note on your record. Why? The girl had an inoperable brain tumor. It was affecting a lot of her motor function. Her familys wish was for her to meet Minnie Mouse. Yesterday afternoon, while they were in the park, they noticed she was getting sleepy, so they went back to their room so she could take a nap. Im sorry, (me), but she never woke up. She held on long enough to meet Minnie, and you made that happen. (F**k, guys, Im starting to choke up. 11.5, almost 12 years later, and I still cry). I was offered to speak to a grief counselor, but I declined. Its really heavy, to know that a child was so close to death, that they hung on just to meet their favorite character. And to know that you were the reason they felt they could depart. So yeah. Whenever I was having a bad day at work, I would think about this girl, and this family, and say to myself, this is why you do this. Because of people like her.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 14:38:21 +0000