Catalena

This is my beautiful niece Catalena. She was born in 2013, and she has Down’s syndrome. To me she is priceless. She had a heart condition. We didn’t know if she’d make it. It was terrifying. My sister was amazing staying by her side through all the surgeries.

I never had the chance to be a mom. I was a step mom but with all the sadness that came with that situation it wasn’t the same as being a mom to a newborn baby. My sister was aware of my heart ache in this matter. And she lovingly gave Catalena my name Quinn for her middle name.

The joy this girl has added to my life is indescribable. My husband and I were able to experience the joys of her sleeping over. Along with the exhausting battle of trying to get her to go to sleep. We often went in our tracker for a ride trying to lull her to sleep. She loved having her feet and hands gently tickled. My husband Kirk implemented that in our plan of attack to get her to sleep. Usually it worked. Now she is 6 years old and just started kindergarten. When Catalena sees us she gets so excited. We get attacked with hugs. The feeling this gorgeous child gives us is beyond any amount of money.

When I am having a bad day all I have to do is stop by to visit her and her giggle lifts my spirits. We have a park down the road from us. They have a zip line there. At first she was about 2 years old and petrified of it. I sat down on it lifting her on my lap I wrapped her legs around me. As we flew through the air her fear disappeared. Her eyes met mine and a bunch of giggles erupted from her mouth. As we continued our adventures together going to the park is one of her favorite activities. She lovingly calls it the zip constantly requesting to go on it. And yes now she rides on it by herself.

Catalena has filled a void in my life. I cherish her so much. We wish everyone could get to know her. She did get a little bit of stardom on our local news watch 16 channel when she was about 3 years old. It was about a charity that helps children with special needs. The newscaster was even blessed with a kiss on the cheek from Catalena. Something you could tell would be a request by many as her cuteness is contagious.