The IncRETTibles – a Column by Jacqueline Babiarz

Our daughter’s Make-A-Wish trip was a dream come true

Second in a series. Read part one. Cammy Babiarz took her first ride in a limo during her Make-A-Wish trip in November 2018. (Photo by Jackie Babiarz) Make-A-Wish is an extraordinary organization that grants wishes to children with critical illnesses. In my last column, I shared that…

Finding the right time to begin the Make-A-Wish process

First in a series. My late daughter, Cammy, was diagnosed with Rett syndrome in 2011, when she was just shy of 2 years old. A year later, someone brought up the idea of referring her to Make-A-Wish, an organization that grants wishes to children with critical illnesses.

Life lessons from ‘Sesame Street’ and my late daughter, Cammy

My late daughter, Cammy, loved “Sesame Street” because it was the world she imagined for all of us. Kindness, patience, unconditional love, empathy, hope, and acceptance are just a few of the core values our family learned from the show, but we actually lived them with Cammy. Our daughter’s…

What my family and I learned from my late daughter

In her short 14 years on earth with us, my daughter Cammy taught my family and many others more about life than we could’ve ever taught her. She was more than a little girl who had Rett syndrome. She brought out the best version of everyone she…

The coping tools that are helping as I grieve my daughter’s passing

Self-preservation. Boundaries. Circles. Comfort zones. These are practices I’ve learned during grief therapy. I’ve been implementing these coping tools since my oldest daughter, Cammy, passed away from complications of Rett syndrome last December. She was 14. After Cammy died, many friends and family encouraged self-preservation. They…