![]() She drives to the Costellos’ house every school day and rides the bus to and from school with Cathleen. The following year, Shortridge, who lives in North Hudson, Wis., started working for the Costellos as their after-school and summer caregiver. “If not for medication, she would probably have a seizure 20 times a day – each one lasting five or 10 minutes,” she said.Ĭathleen and Shortridge were paired together for the first time when Cathleen was in kindergarten at Lake Elmo Elementary. Her seizures are controlled by medication, but on five different occasions, she’s had to be taken by ambulance to deal with a severe “breakthrough seizure,” Danielle Costello said. It wasn’t until 2018 that doctors determined Cathleen, then 11, had the rare genome variant CACNA1E. “She wasn’t progressing as a typical child would,” Danielle Costello said. The couple didn’t notice anything different about their daughter until she turned 9 months old. Don Costello is a lead business consultant at Perficient Danielle Costello is a quality engineer at Medtronic.Ĭathleen, their only child, was born in 2007 at United Hospital in St. They were married in July 2003 and moved to Oakdale in 2006. “She’s found a way to engage both typical and atypical teens in an activity that sparks the imagination.” SEVERE SEIZURESĭon Costello and Danielle Peterson met through friends in October 2001 when they were both invited to see the band Casablanca Orchestra at Bogart’s in Apple Valley. That’s all anybody wants – to be paid attention to.”Ĭostello credits Shortridge for helping Cathleen find her passion and for helping “the rest of us engage with Cathleen and challenge and interact with her,” she said. “It’s great for typical kids to learn how to interact with different kinds of people and also for our kids to learn how to interact with typical people and also be treated as just another student and just another friend. “All anybody wants is to feel included and part of a group or part of a community,” Costello said. She is non-verbal, non-ambulatory and requires 24-hour support. She likes to have a project where she can use at least one power tool.”Ĭathleen was born with a rare genome variant that results in a seizure disorder that requires constant supervision. She’s a girl after my own heart in that regard. It’s so good for her physically and emotionally because she’s working with her hands and her mind. “We spend so many hours just working and imagining and creating things, and she just loves it. “We call ourselves the fairy spirits,” Shortridge said. This summer, they worked with other fairy-fanatic friends to create a fairy table for the “Magical Fairy Village” event in Oak Park Heights. The two also designed and built a “fairy table” that uses accessible switches and buttons so people with differing abilities can play fairy-related games. The friendship forged over fairies has led to the creation of a fairy wonderland in the front and back yards of Cathleen’s house in Oakdale. At the pixie peak of that list are fairy houses.įortunately, Cathleen, 14, has found someone who shares her obsession with the magical miniature worlds: Lorrie Shortridge, one of her special-education paraprofessionals at Stillwater Area High School. She loves everything fairy – figurines, stickers, notebooks, books, T-shirts, wings, costumes and lights. Nobody else even ranks.īut Cathleen’s absolute all-time favorite thing in the world is fairies. Her favorite foods are chocolate ice cream and cottage cheese. Please see our About Us page for more details.Cathleen Costello’s favorite colors are pink, purple and green, in that order. ![]() Safe distance to ensure they receive their gift. Recipient is available to accept, their gift will be left at the door and the delivery driver will step back a In addition, we may be using “no contact” delivery procedures. Restricted access to certain regional areas.Restricted deliveries to office buildings.Restricted deliveries to hospitals or nursing homes.Rest assured that we are taking all recommended precautions to ensure customer satisfaction and safety. We promise to always deliver a fresh, beautiful, and completely one-of-a-kind gift of the same or greater value as what you selected.ĭeliveries may also be impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. Please note that for all other orders, we may need to replace stems so we can deliver the freshest bouquet possible, and we may have to use a different vase. For our freshest, most beautiful blooms, please shop our Florist’s Choice options, as we may be experiencingĭelays in receiving shipments of certain flower types. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |