About a week and half ago, a package came in the mail for Ellie and Timmy with a letter from Mary Poppins and Bert telling them how excited they were to meet us. They also sent along our own backstage badges with the kids names on them...to almost 4 year olds, a badge you get to wear around your neck, with your own name is a HUGE deal.
The instructions had us show up at the stage door following the matinee performance as we were seeing the evening performance later. We were to arrive at 3:15, but as Jeff will tell you, I'm early for everything and this was certainly not something we were going to miss for being late. So we arrived early, and it was a windy day in San Francisco. We walked over to check out a farmers market and were stopped by two different sets of tourists who really wanted to take pictures of Timmy and Ellie. Ellie had been given a hand me down Mary Poppins costume and I had been able to make a hat for Timmy and found a great lady on Etsy who rushed to make a shirt for him. The two of them were quite a pair walking through the farmers market.
We then waited in front of Stage Door 1178 with our badges ready. Since we had to wait for at least 20 minutes the kids started asking what the hold up was, and Timmy declared that he thought Mary Poppins hadn't arrived yet and that the wind was a sign that she was arriving soon :) He and Ellie then proceed to examine all the windows up above that were open to try to figure out which one she would be flying in through.
Then Brad, the assistant company manager who helped make this day possible, arrived with goodie bags for the kids and a real Mary Poppins umbrella signed by the whole cast. Timmy (who loves umbrellas) immediately took it and started examining it to see if the parrot on it would talk like Mary Poppins' does. He then led us onto the side of the stage as the final act was performing. As the final curtain came down we were ushered onto the stage to meet the whole cast. Ellie was a little nervous at first, but Timmy took the lead and gave Mary Poppins a big hug and Ellie quickly warmed up to her.
Following the meet and greet with the cast, we were escorted out and treated to a fantastic Mother's Day meal courtesy of the Mary Poppins show at a restaurant a block away from the theater. It was a fantastic meal and a real treat for my Mom and I.
Ellie and Timmy sat on the edge of their seats for the entire 2 hour and 45 minute performance. The highlight was watching them sing along to "Let's Go Fly A Kite" with huge smiles on their faces. On our walk back to the parking garage, Timmy was searching the sky to see if he could see Mary Poppins flying away. He saw a white light and exclaimed "Mommy there she goes! I wonder how she will land with her new family?" to which Ellie responded "Oh, I think Brad (the assistant company manager) will help her."
We have been so blessed throughout the last 23 months to be touched by people's acts of kindness and support of our little Ellie-Belle. We are so grateful to the Mary Poppins Disney production, and in particular Matt and Brad from the production for giving Ellie and Timmy such a magical evening and the experience of meeting the "real" Mary Poppins and Bert.
Tomorrow is chemo day for Ellie, we continue to pray for good counts and that her chemo can resume to 100% of her dose.
With Love and Thanks,
Polly
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