January 30, 2010, 8:08AM
7-year-old Sophia Mohler, left, and her sister Katelyn, 11, pose with Mickey and Minnie Mouse during Sophia’s Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World in mid-January.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss.
While in Houston last October, Theresa Mohler of Ocean Springs had a troubling thought: that her family might never again be able to visit Disney World, one of their favorite destinations.
At the time, Mohler’s 7-year-old daughter Sophia was at the city’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center receiving treatment for an inoperable brain tumor, and the thought of a road trip to central Florida didn’t seem plausible.
Fast forward three months.
Sophia was dancing on Disney World’s Main Street and at every block party she could muster, delighted as characters riding on the various floats singled her out, lauding her face paint and colorful shirt proclaiming, “I Love Cupcakes.”
Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Sophia, her 11-year-old sister Katelyn, and their parents left Jan. 14 for a week in Orlando. at the Give Kids the World Village resort, visiting Disney World, Sea World and other amusement parks during the trip.
“They wanted us to be able to take a vacation and not have to worry about anything,” Theresa Mohler said.
When Sophia’s doctors became concerned that her blood counts were too low and decided she needed lab work done, Make-A-Wish even facilitated that while they were at Give Kids the World, Mohler said.
Sophia learned of the trip in her second-grade classroom at St. Alphonsus in Ocean Springs on Jan. 13, the same day her distant cousin, Mayor Connie Moran, brought her a proclamation saying that day was Sophia Mohler Day.
Some of Sophia’s Disney-related wishes were to have a private audience with Tinker Bell, who she missed during a previous trip, and to attend the Wonderland Tea Party where Alice and friends sing songs and bake, big surprise, cupcakes.
“She said that was her favorite thing of the whole trip,” Mohler said, adding that Katelyn helped dress Sophia up as Alice — makeup and nails included — for the “kids-only” tea party.
“It was very special for all of us, that we were able to do something normal,” Mohler said of the trip.
It’s been an encouraging month for Sophia and her family. In addition to all that’s happened, her mom reports that her blood counts are back up and her doctors are “very pleased” with her last MRI and the effectiveness of her treatment.
“They felt the tumor was still responding to the radiation and chemotherapy she’s on right now,” she said.
So now the Mohlers are back home, where the community and its “angels on Earth” keep a firm embrace around them and their brave second-grader.
The parents have reopened the Tato-Nut doughnut shop they own in downtown Ocean Springs, and though it seems to be business as usual, Theresa is still thinking about the support they have received during such a tumultuous time in their lives and the vacation they were able to enjoy, after all.
“It still amazes me,” Mohler said. “I don’t think I could get up every day if I didn’t have people helping us out so much.”
By Michael Dumas
News from The Mississippi Press
