The Dellicker Family :

Traveled March 1 - 6, 2020

Meet the Dellicker Family. Single mom, Laura, adopted her son, Salim, from India. He has a rare and severe skin condition called Epidermolysis Bullosa, which makes many everyday tasks difficult and painful for him, but still he smiles and dances through life with an undeniable joy.

“I never could have imagined how special and magical our trip to Disney truly was prior to experiencing it. Our friends at Funding Love went above and beyond to take care of everything for us. Their mission is to send adoptive families on the trip of a lifetime to make memories and strengthen bonds, and they truly accomplished that for us this week. Things have been incredibly stressful for our little family lately. Nursing care has been an absolute nightmare, and juggling all of Salim’s therapies, doctor’s appointments, medications, nurses & agencies, supply companies, etc. is essentially a full time job on top of my actual full time job. He has been through a lot with his health lately, including two surgeries in the last 3 months. And on top of all the medical stuff, there’s everything that comes with adoption. I don’t talk much about it (and won’t, to protect his story and his privacy) but adoption is hard. It is born in loss and tragedy and has a forever impact on everyone it touches. It has not been easy for Salim, to put it lightly. With all of the stress that all of the above puts on me, I am not always the parent I want to be to Salim. But this week at Disney, I literally felt the layers of stress fall off of me. I “hakuna matata-ed” all week because everything was taken care of. We had Magic Maker extraordinaire, Millie, guiding us around the parks so I didn’t have to know where a thing was or look at a map, taking us on rides, grabbing disability pass return times, pushing Salim, taking pictures so I could be fully present, assisting with tube feeds, bringing me food, shielding Salim from crowds, and so much more. Our entire trip was planned around Salim’s needs and interests. He was treated like royalty by everyone we met and interacted with. I worried about him, because that’s what I do best, but I didn’t need to be. He was so safe and loved. Even when he did get hurt, the teamwork of our friends, Disney’s fabulous cast members, and the first aide station (aka mini hospital, it was impressive) made it a breeze. We made wonderful new friends who I know we’ll stay in touch with. The two boys Salim grew closest to were nothing but kind and did the most beautiful job of making Salim feel just like everyone else - I’ve never seen anything like it. Above all, Salim and I got to laugh, love and be present with each other in a way that we hardly ever get to do in the stress of daily life. There were moments I stood there watching him where I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me as I was overcome with gratitude for his health, his spunk, his joy, and more than anything, for the fact that he is my son. It’s been a long and crazy journey, and it has been incredibly hard, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Having a week to reflect on, embrace and fully live our lives together was truly the gift of a lifetime. Huge thanks to Funding Love and every person who donated in any way to make this happen, to my fellow India adoptive families who connected us with them, to my colleagues who made it possible for me to leave work, to his school and teachers for allowing him and encouraging us to take advantage of this opportunity, to his doctors for making adjustments to meds to make it as joyful as possible for him, to Disney staff for loving him so well, and to everyone who continually supports us through every aspect of our journey.”

• Laura D. 

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