2005
Start
at Diary Part One
Go back to Diary Part Two
Go
back to Diary Part Three
Go to Kessia's Home Page
Monday, 28 February 2005
I have every intention (yet again) to resurrect this web diary.
Today has been difficult. It's Geoff's birthday and we acutely miss Kessia and feel her absence. I try to imagine what it would be like if she was still alive - her excitement, her eagerness to do something special for Geoff. She would have made Josh her young accomplice, and the two no doubt would have sown havoc in the kitchen and left traces of their "treats for Dad" throughout the house.
Instead, Josh did a wonderful job helping with breakfast pancakes and writing lovely little birthday notes [his note to me this evening: "Dear Mum, don't figet to saye happy buthday to Geoff. Love from Fox"]. He took the day off school and Geoff had the day off work - it's a bit of a family tradition - for us to spend the day together. It was Geoff's first birthday with Ciara, so a new chapter unfolds in our lives.
And speaking of new chapters, we're revamping KessiaCare Foundation and focussing on what we see as our core work. We've spent several months deciding whether we had the capacity to continue with the Foundation - our lack of energy, finances and drive almost made us give up. But Geoff and I independently came to the conclusion that we've come too far and invested too much to just let it slip away.
Tuesday, 19 April 2005
Well... after a pathetic effort to resurrect this web diary, here is an update on what's been keeping us busy these past few months.
Kessia's Cottage is going well. We have about 20 bookings so far and considering there are only 50 weeks to book out, we think its serving its purpose very well. We've had some lovely feedback from several families about how much their stay at the cottage helped them - it always gives us a wonderful sense of having achieved something special in Kessia's memory. We continue to believe that Kessia's sweetness drifts through the cottage, her caring and gentle spirit lingers in the air there. People who have visited have told us of being moved to tears by the sense of her.
KessiaCare Foundation has a new website (kessiacare.org.au). I spent quite a few weeks working on both the content, having basically reworked what the main focus of the Foundation is about, and the presentation, being my second attempt at web design. And I'd have to say I'm pleased with both!
Aussie Icefinders. Two young guys - Angus Munro and Simon Downing - are at this very moment in Greenland, about to undertake a 650km trek across arctic ice to help promote KessiaCare Foundation! We are very excited about it! We put out a press release and are still waiting on more papers, magazines and hopefully even TV to pick up the story. The press release is below - it's a pretty good read!
____________________________________________________________________________________________
MEDIA RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Monday 4 April 2005
ARCTIC ICE, POLAR
BEARS AND BLIZZARDS
Aussie Adventurers Do It for Terminally Ill Kids
Two young Australians are set to enter the record books as they ski, sled and kite the width of Greenland’s arctic wilderness in support of terminally ill children.
Angus Munro, 23, a glaciologist and veteran of three research trips to the Antarctic, and Simon Downing, 25, a criminal lawyer, avid skier and sailor, leave Australia on April 6 to cross-navigate the world’s second largest icecap.
Only four other Australian teams have completed the treacherous
journey fraught with the possibilities of violent blizzards, deep crevasses
and even polar bears.
"It will be a very challenging experience but something we'll be better
for if we get over – when we get over!" Mr Downing said.
If successful, the pair – dubbed the Aussie Icefinders
– will be the youngest Australians to traverse a major icecap and the
first to publicise a charitable cause in doing so.
Mr Munro said that "an adventure like this makes day-to-day challenges
surmountable. It puts things in perspective".
The expedition will promote KessiaCare Foundation, an Australian
charitable foundation which seeks to enhance the quality of life of families
with children receiving palliative care.
“While it’s a sensitive issue, it is a tragic reality that some
seriously ill children will not survive their illness,” said KessiaCare
Foundation’s founding director, Mr Geoff McConnell. “It is these
children and their families the Foundation intends to help.”
The McConnell family of Canberra set up KessiaCare Foundation in 2003 following the death of their seven year old daughter, Kessia, and in response to a growing awareness of the needs of families who require paediatric palliative care services.
“For me, Kessia showed the importance of living life as well as you can do,” Aussie Icefinder Mr Downing said. “I’m really excited about helping out and giving the Foundation some exposure.”
Mr Downing and Mr Munro will battle with exposure of a different kind – arctic temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius and 24-hour daylight. The pair will tow about 150 kilograms of food, equipment and hi-tech gear for their month-long, 650 kilometre journey.
Mr Munro said people wanting to follow the expedition's progress online or interested in donating could visit www.icefinders.com or www.kessiacare.org.au.
Contact:
Simon Downing, Aussie Icefinders, tel. 03 9719 7422, mob. 0403 496764
Angus Munro, Aussie Icefinders, mob. 0427 770976, angus.munro@gmail.com
Denise Chang, KessiaCare Foundation, tel. 02 6249 1163, info@kessiacare.org.au
Photos available (contact Denise Chang):
• Angus Munro, testing a Quadrifoil kite which will help speed their 650km
journey across arctic wilderness, Hervey Bay, March 2005. Photo: Fraser Coast
Chronicle / Jan Rolston
• Angus Munro, relaxing on the Amery Ice Shelf, Antarctica, January 2005.
Photo: Angus Munro
• Simon Downing, ice-climbing the Fox Glacier, New Zealand, January 2005.
Photo: Angus Munro
• Kessia McConnell, bungey jumping on a day out from hospital, Sydney,
Sept 2002. Kessia died six weeks following her diagnosis with a rare form of
brain tumour. Photo: Denise Chang
• Kessia McConnell, playing at a park, Vanuatu, May 2002. Photo: Denise
Chang
Download:
Aussie Icefinders Greenland Traverse 2005 Information Pack (at password prompt,
click “OK” two times to open).
_________________________________________________________________________________________
I've been meaning to write about this before I forget because it was so sweet.
Quite a few weeks ago when I was tucking Josh into bed and we had finished saying his "good dream prayer" he said to me, "You know Mum, you know how Kessia was bigger and fatter than me?" And I said, "Yesss..." not really sure where he was going. "Well," he said, "When I have nightmares, I can climb inside Kessia because she was bigger and fatter and I can fit inside her, and she puts a safety shield around me and I don't get scared by nightmares anymore."
I was floored. My darling boy, I thought. What a wonderful, wonderful gift he has. He puts me to shame with how strongly he feels Kessia and believes in her being with him always. He teaches me a thing or two whenever I slow down and take the time to listen.