Many parents dream of their children growing up and seeing the world. But Edith Lemay, a mother of four from Canada, worried her children were running out of time to do that.
When her first child, Mia, was little, she noticed she would bump into things. In 2018, Mia was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa(色素性视网膜炎).
"What it does is that the cell in the retina dies over time and they lose their field of vision. There's a chance they will go completely blind by midlife," said Lemay.
The disease is genetic, meaning Lemay's other kids were at risk. She soon noticed two of her sons, Collin and Laurent, had the same symptoms. They were soon diagnosed, too.
"Of course it was devastating(令人极为震惊的). And when you have a kid, you always have an image of what their future is going to be like and all of a sudden, you get that news and you need to erase that and think it over. And it really is a grieving process," Lemay said.
Lemay wanted to prepare her kids for what was to come and thought about filling their visual memory. In March, Lemay, her husband, and her four kids left Canada and embarked on an epic journey, traveling the globe for a whole year—showing their kids the world, before it is too late.
During their trip, Lemay is homeschooling her kids. The family also made a bucket list of fun activities they want to accomplish, so each kid can see their dreams come true.
Lemay said her kids are not only making visual memories. They're also learning important life lessons, like focusing on the positive. "Sometimes they're tired and there's frustration. It's difficult. But with the travel, I want them to be resilient."
"I want them to know that any situation that's hard is temporary, because through their life, they'll need lots of resilience," she said. "They're going to adapt to a situation with their eyesight and then in a few years later, they'll lose a chunk of their eyesights and they will have to readapt and adapt again and fall and get back again," Lemay continued.
Many parents want to give their kids the world and this mom did.
