Caroline’s Golden Pinwheel Gift

It was a week in September 2024 that I received an email that broke my heart. Caroline had passed away. This little girl had cortical visual impairment and benefitted from using my BaseKit. I never met Caroline, who was only two and a half when she died. Somehow, by the grace of God, I had the honor of playing a part in her short life. 

The previous year I had created a raffle to give away one of my VistaQuest BaseKits to a loving family. I had numerous responses from all over the country. As did several others, this one family’s response particularly touched me to the core, and they were chosen as the recipient of this prize.

A little about Caroline. 

Caroline spent her first year of life in the hospital on dialysis after having both kidneys removed because she was born with a rare kidney disease. During this time, due to an infection and unchecked blood pressure, Caroline had a stroke that left her with cortical visual impairment. A trach and vent aiding her in breathing and eating, along with the peritoneal dialysis, were a daily reality.

As Caroline moved back home, her family and team of therapists worked together to make life easier for her, but there were still barriers they did not know how to cross. Barriers of how to actively engage her, involving questions of how much she could see and understand what she was seeing. 

Caroline’s response to the BaseKit overwhelmed me when I first read what her mom wrote. Her therapists had started incorporating the tools and activities into what they did with her. Caroline’s siblings, nine and five years old, were able to pick a Trail Guide card from the kit with the item it went with and play with Caroline. Interactions were occurring more and more. 

Caroline’s absolute favorite item was the golden pinwheel. When it was set up beside her, her face would light up and her mouth would open wide, her whole body wiggling as if she wanted to get it. Through use of the BaseKit, Caroline learned how to use her limited vision to better understand her world.

Motivation increased, and Caroline was tolerating her stretches and exercises so much better with the right setup and environment. Her physical therapist, occupational therapist, and speech therapist were all using the BaseKit, incorporating it into their therapy.

Over the last year, I would get other updates on Caroline and how well she was still responding to the BaseKit. When I felt discouraged about how my own slow progress with students, I would read back through these emails and think about Caroline. 

This was my “why” for what I do. My purpose.

When I received the news of her death, my heart fell. I had this hope that one day I would meet Caroline and her lovely family. How can the passing of someone I had never met have such a big impact on me?

I turn back to the motto of my VistaQuest business: “Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something is worth doing no matter how it turns out.” (Attributed to Václav Havel in various writings and speeches).