Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Magic of Sesame Place

Our road trip finally reached the destination that inspired the entire two week vacation. We wanted to live out our original plans for Zack to meet Elmo at Sesame Place in Pennsylvania- in his absence, but with his spirit with us, we still wanted to fulfill this wish.

The first night we watched the incredible nighttime parade and were totally mesmerized by the characters, the music and the pure emotion and magic of Sesame. Best of all....we saw Elmo and couldn't wait to meet him the following day. We even got to visit an Elmo's World set and see the show with Mr. Noodle's nephew, Mr. Noodle!

The exceptional people at Sesame Place (@sesameplace on twitter) had not only offered us "Abby Front of the Line" wristbands, they also invited us to meet and take photos with all of the Sesame characters before the parade. As the first characters started to walk out, my heart began to race. I would be meeting Elmo for the first time. While it wasn't Kevin Clash, this was a "real" Sesame Elmo and it had been a long awaited moment.

Elmo started walking towards the crowd and I took our framed photo of Zack with us to go shake his hand and take some pictures. He put his arms around Ty, Jayden and I and then held Zack's photo between his furry hands. I had finally taken Zack to meet Elmo. I realized the enormity of the moment and dissolved into tears. I stepped back only to see Elmo holding just Zack's image for a photo to be taken. With tears streaming down my cheeks, Elmo gestured for me to come over....he put his arms around me and hugged me. I'm not sure if he did know what this moment meant to me and to our family, but I whispered a thank you and told him that this was for my son. He kissed his furry red hand and placed it on Zack's face in the frame and my heart melted.




more photos here
at

17 comments:

  1. writewrdsAugust 11, 2011 at 7:56 AM

    I'm crying too. Really crying. That's pretty awesome. And special.
    Hugs. ox

    Pam @writewrds

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  2. Kim Ramsay GornyAugust 11, 2011 at 7:57 AM

    Oh Heather! As always your strength and courage is amazing. Your journey of love for Zack has only just begun. Sending you great big hugs.

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  3. TrineAugust 11, 2011 at 9:14 PM

    Note to self - never...never read Heathers blog at work... I'm sitting at my desk, tears streaming down my face for the beautiful moment that Elmo just gave you all. What a wonderful person inside that suit. I'm so happy for you that you were able to fulfill this dream for all of you and Zack.
    Much love,
    Trine xx

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  4. SarahAugust 11, 2011 at 10:38 PM

    So Beautiful Heather.. I too am in tears.. what a beautiful moment in your life...

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  5. LisaAugust 11, 2011 at 10:46 PM

    Love this. Love you. So glad you and your boys (Paul included) had this special moment.

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  6. LindsayAugust 11, 2011 at 10:50 PM

    I am so happy for you, Paul and the boys to have had this moment. Thank you for sharing and bringing us all to tears!

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  7. Jennifer GilbertAugust 11, 2011 at 10:54 PM

    What a beautiful moment. Thank you for sharing with us. HUGS

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  8. JenAugust 11, 2011 at 10:57 PM

    Wow. Thank you for sharing this with us. I can't even begin to imagine the way it made you feel but I am totally crying my eyes out right now. I still think of Zack every time by boy plays with his elmo. Zach touched so many of us.

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  9. smilenwavenAugust 11, 2011 at 10:58 PM

    SO beautiful and special... HUGE hugs!

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  10. StephanieAugust 12, 2011 at 12:10 AM

    Oh Heather...I cried through this entire post! What a beautiful moment to share with your family. (and now I love Elmo even more) Hugs!

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  11. UnknownAugust 12, 2011 at 8:30 AM

    Thank you for reading this moment..when it happened, I couldn't wait to tell the magic that created the memory and tell you all about it.

    Have you had magic moments like this in your life?

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  12. AnonymousAugust 12, 2011 at 10:38 PM

    I KNEW I shouldn't have read this without tissues close by!!! Such a special time for all of you! xxx

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  13. SharleneAugust 12, 2011 at 11:13 PM

    So wonderful that you finally got to do this with your amazing family. You're a great mom with strength and courage that comes from above and Zack is so blessed to have you as his mom and that you could fulfill this step in a lifelong journey. We had tears reading the post and watching the video. God Bless! xoxo The Henrys

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  14. penny dodsonAugust 13, 2011 at 9:32 AM

    heather,paul,ty,jayden
    you are so blessed to have these moments to share with Zackie.HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH
    pen pen

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  15. Lisa aka @those2girlsAugust 13, 2011 at 4:09 PM

    Your are so strong. Thank-you for sharing your memories with us!

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  16. UnknownAugust 20, 2011 at 8:48 AM

    Thank you everyone so much...I'm so happy I could share this. Pen Pen...yes. He did love us so much....and YOU.

    Here are more of our trip photos....https://picasaweb.google.com/112236107777949796804/August162011?locked=true

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  17. UnknownAugust 20, 2011 at 8:48 AM

    Thank you everyone so much...I'm so happy I could share this. Pen Pen...yes. He did love us so much....and YOU.

    Here are more of our trip photos.... https://picasaweb.google.com/112236107777949796804/August162011?locked=true

    ReplyDelete