Love, Kennedy

Right after

high school, I had a dream.

I was running, I was excited,

but didn't know why.

I just knew, I needed

to get to that car.

Out of that car came the most

beautiful woman I'd ever seen...

Then the cutest little

girl there ever was.

And then it happened...

Her hug was unlike any that

I had ever received before.

Who was this little girl?

Who was this beautiful woman?

And me?

I woke up wondering

what all that meant.

10 years passed and now

I'm living that dream...

But one thing that dream

didn't prepare me for,

was how that sweet girl

could also be such a stinker.

Hey girls, you buckled in?

Uh-huh.

All right sweeties,

I'll be back.

What are you doing?

You can't drive.

See you don't know how to...

You don't

have to be 16 to drive!

Look out world!

Here comes Kennedy.

Stop this car right now!

Help!

I'm good!

Oh no!

Girls!

Girls, girls?

Oh my gosh.

Kennedy!

What happened?

I'm goooood.

She's not good!

She's very not good!

You drove?

Mm-hmm!

How could you?

Don't you ever do that again!

What is wrong with you?

A lot!

Woo-hoo!

Yup,

Kennedy knew what she wanted

and set her goals early.

Oh, Kennedy.

Boom wacka, wacka.

Boom, wacka, wacka.

Cheerleading.

Yay!

Sorry.

It's ok.

Dating.

"I would like if when you

are 16, we can go on a date.

I love you Brett."

Love, Kennedy.

Oh, Brett!

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Run! Don't look back!

And her other dream was driving.

She loved it when I

would take her for a ride

in my big truck.

Nope.

Oh, daddy.

Sports were

a big part of Kennedy's life.

They seemed to give her a way

of appreciating

other's feelings.

Good job, good job!

Good kick.

There ya go, pick it up!

Woo!

There was a girl on another team

who was playing dirty.

She knew every

trick in the book.

Hey, come on ref!

You gotta watch that!

No, pick her up, pick her up.

Get back, get back!

Guard the goal, guard the goal.

Come on ref! Call a foul!

Can you not see that!

Good job out there, good job.

Kennedy come here.

You have got to stand

up to that girl,

you got to get in her face,

get aggressive.

That's how we stand

up to a bully.

But daddy...

Why not just love her?

Why not just love her?

I think we're the parents of a

mix of Gandhi and mother Teresa.

Finally, one of our players

went head to head with the

meanie and took her out.

Good job.

What's she doing?

I think Kennedy's going to finally

give her a piece of her mind.

You ok?

Yeah.

Way to go Gandhi!

Whoo, Deedee!

All right girls, bring it in!

- You okay?

- Yeah

- can you stay in?

- Yeah

all right, go get 'em.

Good job.

Good job girls.

Good job girls.

Get up there, get up there!

Hello.

Mm-hmm.

I'll be right there.

Hi.

Are you ok?

What happened?

I'm just a klutz.

You are not a klutz.

I am so sorry.

It's just bumps and bruises.

They'll heal up quickly.

Okay good, sorry.

It's okay.

But there's

more that you need to know.

Mr. and Mrs. Hansen,

has Kennedy been getting

into fights at school?

No.

I'm sorry but I have to ask...

Have either of you

ever hit Kennedy?

Are you kidding?

Of course we've never hit her.

What's going on?

The images of Kennedy's

eyes show trauma...

Trauma like I haven't seen...

Other than when there's been

a severe blow to the head.

Okay, she's fallen

but not that hard.

I'm tellin' you, it's not us.

What does this mean?

All I know is it's serious

and beyond my training.

I'm going to send you to

an eye center in salt lake.

You also need to know,

the decline in Kennedy's sight

is both severe and rapid.

There...

There's something wrong

with me, isn't there?

You're perfect honey.

We just have to see what's

going on with your eyes.

It's okay.

Jesus will fix my eyes

when I go to heaven.

That kind of talk didn't ever

surprise us with Kennedy.

She had spiritual experiences

from very early on.

Heather's mom died when

Heather was only 15.

We were given the rocking chair that

Heather was rocked in as a child.

And she rocked Kennedy

in the same chair.

The chair was now old,

rickety and noisy.

I wanted to get a new one but

Heather wouldn't hear of it.

And every night,

the chair could be heard,

creaking and playing it's music

as our baby girl

was rocked to sleep.

One night, I couldn't sleep.

Heather, while you

were rocking Kennedy,

I had the strongest impression

that your mom was here...

It got me to wondering...

I didn't rock Kennedy...

I thought you were rocking her.

Weird.

I have to go to the park and then

if you can bring the girls home,

I'll run by the store,

I'll get everything we

need before tonight.

- Does that work okay?

- Not a problem.

Okay.

Hey you!

Good morning,

did you sleep good?

You know why?

Uh-uh.

Grandma Mona came and

rocked me last night.

Who rocked you last night?

You know... mommy's mommy.

The chair then became

even more important,

it became sacred.

Many times as a young girl,

Kennedy would tell

us that she had seen,

been rocked or visited

by grandma Mona.

Yup,

it'll be all good.

Boom wacka wacka,

boom boom, wacka wacka...

Hansen's?

This way please.

We spent years going to every

specialist on the Wasatch front,

and then...

What disease?

Batten disease.

There have been only a few thousand known

cases of batten disease in the world.

It's a disorder

that keeps the cells

from ridding

themselves of waste.

As the fats and

proteins build up,

the cells can no longer

function properly.

Okay, so what do we do?

Those who have it not

only lose their sight,

they lose their mental capacity

and seizures become routine.

There is no cure.

I don't know anybody

who's a better person.

I don't know anyone who

deserves happiness more...

Now this?

We're gonna fight it...

There's no way I'm gonna let

this happen to my daughter.

When mom died I...

I don't know...

Maybe it's part of the plan.

Part of the plan.

I wanna see a copy of that plan.

Deedee,

do you understand

what we're telling you?

What the doctor said?

Are you sure?

Daddy,

can we go for a ride?

Right now?

Yay for daddy!

Yay!

Yay for us!

Daddy?

How long 'til I die?

I don't know Deedee.

I hope you live

another 80 years.

But however long it is,

we're gonna make it great.

Where do you wanna go?

Get a drink!

We can do that.

Hey!

Kennedy!

Kennedy stop the truck!

Stop the truck!

No sir, no sir!

Move over sister!

Move over.

What are you thinking?

I got you!

You can barely see!

You are a crazy woman!

Oh, but you are

a cute crazy woman.

To our knowledge,

Kennedy was the only person

in Utah with batten disease.

But through a national

batten network

we were led to

another Utah family

whose little angel

had the disease also.

Her name was Charlee.

As we opened the door,

a feeling entered our home

that was indescribable.

At this point Charlee

was fully blind.

Charlee had not spoken

a word in almost two months.

H-hi

hi.

I'm Kennedy.

We're the same.

Look how sweet that is.

I know.

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