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Maisy Gets Her Time to Shine

If you want to sit down to chat with Maisy, you might have a hard time tracking her down – at 6 years old, she is busy attending Kindergarten and practicing her best wave for an upcoming pageant.

Pageant Brings Hope

Maisy Pink Dress 2On March 29, the Pageant of Hope, an event for girls with special needs and challenges, will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Paul. Maisy will be a participant, and can’t wait to wow the judges with her beautiful dress and hear people clap for her. Participants can win in categories such as the Courage Award, Mentor Award, and Spirit Award, but one thing is certain – each girl will leave being crowned a Princess of Hope.

To prepare for the pageant, Maisy attended a workshop where she began practicing her walk and interview question, met her buddy who will help her through the pageant, and learned about confidence and not being afraid to talk to others.

“She could have taught that class!” laughs her mom, Julie.

She has also been busy trying on a lot of beautiful dresses to find just the right one – a very important decision for a future Princess of Hope.

Big Steps for a Little Lady

All10_cropMaisy, who is one of 10 children (you can learn about the whole family and their journey here), receives nutrition services from PHS – an incredible leap from her complexities when she was brought home by Julie and Mark, mom and dad to Maisy. She has made incredible strides after having over 25 surgeries to lead her down a road to better health, and we can’t wait to see what she has ahead.

IMG_4494_crop“Maisy’s health has improved in so many areas – she only uses a feeding pump and a neb machine for daily nebs each day,” said Julie. “She does have a pacemaker and we monitor her pacemaker through a telephone monitoring system, but she’s come so far from a little girl who was trached and on a ventilator 24 hours a day until she was 3 years old. She is amazing!”

Learning at School and Home

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After starting Kindergarten this fall, it seems that Maisy can’t get enough of learning.

“She makes it through school all day. At home, she plays school all evening long. She writes her name over and over, and is loving the classroom! With her great manners, they love her at school.”

Sharing What Makes Her Special

Maisy Pink DressJulie knows how incredible of an opportunity this pageant is for Maisy, and we certainly agree – this 6 year old has the spunk, charm and personality to win any heart.

“Maisy is a princess every day and we are thankful that the Pageant of Hope will give her a place to shine and to share all that makes her unique and special! This is a chance for everyone to see the beautiful girl before they see her disability.

We are so proud of her positive attitude, her courage and her ability to make anyone’s day a little brighter! There will be plenty of tears shed at the pageant that is for sure!”

Originally published: March 4, 2014

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