“Eight-year-old Lily Allison, from Loveland, thought Denver7 was at her house to interview her about a new book she wrote to combat bullying called “Be Kind, Silly” which was released this month on Amazon.
But our cameras were really there to capture the surprise.”
2 Comments on “Mandy surprises Loveland girl living with rare disorder surprised”
Mandy, this video is remarkable beyond words. She and you are in a sense two sides of the same golden coin.
What a beautiful surprise for Lily! As someone who also has the challenges that come with EDS, you are a huge inspiration.
My passion for thirty years was skating, but EDS wouldn’t allow for such a thing indefinitely. However, there is still much joy in my life, raising my son, who also faces a lifetime of challenges with EDS. Living with EDS and spending so much time in hospital beds has increased my emotional awareness tenfold, and when popping out for a breath of fresh air takes 45 minutes a inching step at a time, you learn patience as a necessity. I also found having an entirely inappropriate sense of when to laugh, to be an asset!
So much of what you said in your book resonated with me. You are an amazing individual with your own style, not an amazing deaf artist, or singer with EDS, although those are unavoidably facets of the diamond that is you – you’re the person that took all that pressure and made yourself something that sparkles on stage and throws brilliance around.
Your music is so much more than 99% of what’s played nowadays, and there’s an implicit irony in you being one of a handful of artists not autotuned to death in post production! You put in the work to be absolutely on point, in a field, jazz, that’s not an easy field to be a singer in, at the best of times, but it absolutely shows. The purity of your voice is just thrilling to the core, and your lyrics are so inspirational.
I too feel I have positives on the balance sheet, in return for the pain and trials. I learned tenacity, perseverance, patience and sometimes through mistreatment, empathy for others. I also learned to stand up for myself and do my own research, so that my son might have an easier time of it than I did, in some respects. All my emotions are worn on my sleeve now, I’m not ashamed to flood with tears of joy or sorrow, emotion is our biggest asset, and your music arouses so much emotion, it’s entirely unnecessary to append words like deaf, or connective tissue disorder, as the majority of the media do. You are magnificent on the same level playing field as any other musician, and you absolutely made Lily’s year with this visit.
Thank you for the music, and for the inspiration. Peace and love from the UK.