2005 Aussie Nationwide Family Day

The 2005 Family Day was held on Saturday October 28th. The place was Quakers Hill NSW and the venue was situated at a lovely lake (fenced off) in a community centre.

There were nine families that came on the day and the ages of the kids varied from 22 down to 2 years old.Adrian was the oldest , then there was Sarah who was 19, Laura , Hannah , Meg , Brayden , Samantha who was 3, Nicki who was 3 and Michaela was the baby. 7 kids from NSW 1 from Qld and 1 from SA. See the group photo here.

I did most of the organising myself, with the major contribution coming from my wonderful mum. She even had a little tin on her desk at work for people to donate money to the day. She was vigilant in sending out her emails and shaking the tin when people walked past her desk. It was wonderful for her co-workers to feel like they were a part of this wonderful day and they loved hearing all about it.

Mum also went around to business' in our local community with little Michaela and my letter asking for donations. And most were more than willing to help out.

My other 'helper' included Dad ,mums sister, my pop well as some other family friends.Their help varied from setting up and packing up, to fundraising to taking pictures and video of the day. I had all the help you could ever ask for.

As well as family and friends I had help of another Kabuki mum who also went around to all the local businesses in her community and had food donated then she drove 2 hours to come early and help us set up (thanks Janelle). I also received help from a few of the Kabuki mums who were nice enough to stay back and help clean up.

The kids had a wonderful day drawing,dancing and playing on the outdoor equipment. We were meant to have the local fire truck come but they got called out to a fire and of course could not make it although the children did not even notice...they were to busy playing.

It was the first time most of the families had met others who have a child with Kabuki Syndrome so the days focus ended up being about getting to know the families and relating to each others stories.

Overall the day was a wonderful success and many friendships were made, that is the best thing about these family days. Its about learning going from that alone feeling you may experience when you first hear the news that your child has Kabuki Syndrome to being part of this wonderful, loving, supportive family. Everyone should try and come to at least one family day , they are a great experience.

By Kelly Gabriel.