Moana – More Than A Movie

Over the last few months we’ve connected with another family at Rady’s. Similar to what our situation would have been in Houston, they are far away from family and their support in Hawaii. Their baby boy has been hospitalized since birth and is now roughly the age Blake was when we were first admitted. Just weeks ago this baby (now 15 months old) had a heart transplant.

While Blake didn’t get the opportunity to undergo his transplant, we know this world. The conversations are scary, the outcomes are unknown, the weight of what’s going on – nearly unbearable.

His dad told me last week about their experience, that he saw his son’s first smile, and that he’s been doing ok. He also happened to mention that his son seems to enjoy Moana. Apparently there were none in the CVICU, but they could watch it on the nurse station monitor. Immediately our reaction was, “Well we can fix that!”

We told them that Moana is an incredibly special movie to us, and that we used to torture our nurses with it on repeat around the clock. We’re not a Disney-crazed family, but even when Blake was a seemingly healthy tornado of a toddler, the colors, music and beauty of that movie would stop him in his tracks. He’d be mesmerized by what he was watching.

Once Blake was hospitalized, we realized deeper connections with the storyline. It’s a tale of courage, strength, perseverance and learning to believe in yourself. After overcoming intimidating obstacles, Moana is able to restore the heart and create a beautiful life. The parallels become very relatable when living in a cardiovascular unit and your entire focus is heart function.

We met with this family a few days later to personally deliver our support, and of course their own copy of Moana. It was a special and emotional meeting between our families. We realize even just a little bit of hope and understanding goes a long way.

We know Blake would want to share his love of Moana, so we will do so #ForBlake. One movie for this special family, and four for the CVICU. Hoping to offer a little bit of encouragement to each “heart” family that gets to enjoy it.

#gooddeedsforblake #forevergrateful #teamblake