To my surprise most of these kids I visited at Shriners had flown in from all over the world for the intimate care at Shriners. Shriners caters to kids under 18, accepts no payment from parents or insurance companies and all their money is raised by donations and the hard work of the Shriners.

Half of the children I visited spoke little English and were under care to receive prosthetics or some type of surgery , due mostly to being born with a certain defect.

These kids were bright and creative as we made our own “book” to leave in their hospital library. They titled their “combined-efforts book”,   Danny and Friends to go with my book, Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy.

It was an amazing day, to say the least. The knowledge I gained afterwards truly opened my eyes to the many needs and the various ways to help out in society.

Note: The little girl sitting in the wagon next to me (above photo) had no legs “yet” but she handle this with pride and in her own way. She hid an assortment of chocolate pudding, bags of candy and 3 cans of Gatorade as well as all sorts of stuffed animals tucked under her blanket covering her legs. I am smiling at her as she had taken a break from our coloring to get a bit too much pudding on her face rather than in her tummy. She was a charm and the staff were amazing with all these kids!

Enjoy!

Tina Turbin