Disney magic

by Paul Temple.

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Andrea and I were informed early in 1989 that our daughter Alana, then aged seven, had a terminal illness. The illness at that stage was undiagnosed, and, due to Alana's rapid deterioration, was expected to claim her sooner rather than later. We were devastated, as any parents would be. We could do little to help Alana except make her time as full and exciting as possible. As the year passed, I had been thinking of taking Alana and our other daughter Melanie on the trip of a lifetime to Disneyland. Alana loved her fairy stories, and Cinderella and Snow White were two of her favourites. Both of the girls would be thrilled with such a trip. When I suggested this to Andrea, she voiced all of the concerns and problems that had already been passing through my mind - the expense, the risk of Alana having medical problems on foreign soil, diet, etc., etc., etc. There were no logical answers to these, just that we should make it happen. We took a loan and went for it and in May 1990 set off.

It was not smooth sailing !!!!

To make our departure easier, we stayed in the motel at Tullamarine airport, Melbourne, the night before we were to depart. Alana slid off the bed and broke her leg. Emotions ran deep that night. Our dreams of something special for the family were in tatters. However, the fighting spirit of the Temples would not be defeated and we set off two days late with Alana's leg in full plaster. This presented many problems, but none insurmountable. We spent three memorable weeks in California, Mexico and Hawaii.

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