Poignant - adjective "affecting or moving the emotions" also "today"

We left our trailers and golf carts this morning, heading north to The Villages, a retirement community (in case you were wondering, there are a few of these here in Florida) of 110,000 people (yes, that's right, a community of 110,000 people age 55 or older) in central (I'll make no further comment) Florida (maybe.  There are many juicy tidbits here) for a tour stop set up by my guy, Mike, from last years tour.

But first, on the way north from Sarasota, we had a home visit.  A visit, set up yesterday, to see Ava.  She has Stage 4 renal cancer, but she's a fighter and her family thought a surprise home visit would be meaningful for Ava.

As we pulled up in front of her house, and gathered to walk over and hug her, we got our first glimpse of Ava and saw just about the most adorable little 4 year-old you could imagine.  Wearing a pink dress, with a grin from ear-to-ear we all lined up and one by one, we got down on our knees to hug her and tell her we loved her.  

Ava wanted to see the tour bus, so the guys that were dressed for the stop; Jay, Don and UK Mike escorted her and her family over.

I snapped this shot just a second too late, Jay had extended a hand to Ava to help her off the bus-  

I still like the way it turned out though.  

After the bus, we posed with Ava for some pictures by the statue.  She was a trooper throughout the stop, but she started to get tired.  We could tell because she just plopped down on the grass for a rest.

Not wanting her to feel alone, the boys joined her...

After talking to her Mom, I had a better understanding of why she was tired.

Ava had a kidney removed last Friday.  

Last Friday.

As in, six days ago, that last Friday.

If it was me, I'd be curled up in bed, whining for more of this or less of that or both.  No-one would want to be within 500 yards of me, I'm fairly certain.  And this four year-old sweetheart was outside checking us out and posing for pictures like it was no big deal.  

This kid blew my mind.  

I wish nothing but goodness and light for Ava and her family.  Please join me in that.

We made it in to our stop with Mike and had one of the better police escorts, certainly one of the longest.  He set up a really nice event for us today too.  Would have been nice if there had been a bigger turnout, but the seniors were probably busy doing other things.  Check CNN's archives for a recent article about The Villages and I think you'll find reference to the highest incidence of STD's in the nation.  

I always wondered what they meant when they advertise places for "active" seniors...

Pink Heals!

Peace