Magical Moment: Perfect way to Celebrate My Mother's Life

I have had so many magical moments at Disney World that I could probably start writing today, and keep writing until the world ran out of ink. That's kind of the point of Disney World right, to create magical memories with friends and family?

There are two moments in my years of Disney travel that will forever stand out in my mind. It just so happens that both of them are from the same trip. This is "Part I"
  

It was March 25, 2011. My mother's birthday. March 25, 2011 was also about the date that would have marked the longest point of the life expectancy that my mother's stage 4 cancer diagnosis had given her several months before. A little ironic, don't you think? My husband, my father, my mother, and I headed down to Orlando for the week to celebrate. My mom was more comfortable in a wheel chair at this point, but she didn't let that stop her. The first thing we did when we got to Downtown Disney was run into a shop and grab a "Happy Birthday" button and a bunch of "I'm Celebrating" buttons. When I told the cast member who's birthday it was, and what exactly we were celebrating, she got all teary, and actually had to have someone else write on our buttons. That alone was a special moment. Dinner that night at Raglan Road, with Irish Step Dancers at our table, and food that tasted like heaven was great. But neither of those was a Magical Moment.

I had been telling my mom about  the Characters in Flight balloon ride for over a year, and we always talked about how crazy people must be to want to go so high up. Like my mother, I am terrified of heights so I was beyond surprised that she said enthusiastically said yes when I jokingly told her that was what we were doing for her birthday.  I felt like I was being challenged, or dared, and being my mother's daughter, I couldn't turn it down. I admired her strength and bravery then, and now I admire the insight, and thank her for the memory. To be 400 feet above my favorite place in the world, with my favorite people in the world, on the most gorgeous day I can remember... conquering a fear that later helped me conquer the fear of loss... was just the most amazing gift she could have given me.
It was the perfect way to celebrate my mother's life. Her 67th and last birthday. She passed away 3 months and 4 days later. This will always be one of my favorite and most cherished memories and I am pleased that Disney is involved in it. Magical doesn't begin to cover it.

(I am a Disney blogger (http://ladyinwonderland.blogspot.com) and a travel agent specializing in Disney Destinations. Readers can find me on Facebook at http://facebook.com/mickeysdreamvacationsbykerri and http://facebook.com/ladyinwonderland and twitter: @ladynwonderland)