Little Addie Fausett loves Christmas, but it’s likely that this one will be her last. ABC News reports that Addie, 6, is unable to play with other children due to atrophy to her brain, but the Christmas cards she has been receiving from family, friends, and even strangers, have been helping to keep a smile on her face.
A chance to give some holiday cheer to this special little girl. Christmas cards for Addie on @KSL5TV at 6. pic.twitter.com/437xOCse9s
— Sam Penrod (@KSLsampenrod) November 29, 2014
Addie’s mother, Tami Fausett, tells ABC that her daughter stopped growing when she was three-years-old. Three years later, she weighs about 23 pounds with doctors recently giving Addie roughly a year to live — or less if “the wrong part of her brain decides to go.”
To cheer Addie up, her grandmother started asking people to send her granddaughter Christmas cards so she would get a little holiday cheer from well-wishers around the globe. CBS 6 reports that word spread quickly on social media about the request for holiday cards . Now the family makes daily trips to pick up the cards at the post office near their home in Fountain Green, Utah.
I just sent Addie a card. If you have any extras, you should too. http://t.co/lx1jblKMNc pic.twitter.com/h5i9a5DvMk — Katy Krassner (@AskKatybook) December 3, 2014
Constant medical testing over the past three years have yet to lead to an actual diagnosis. Doctors told the family that an MRI showed extensive atrophy to Addie’s brain, but little else. Tami tells ABC that she knows that even if a complete diagnosis was made, they wouldn’t be able to stop it from progressing.
Addie is now having a hard time with talking and doing normal things — like playing with her friends and her sisters.
“She’s a happy kid, but a lot of days she just cries all day. I don’t know if she’s just in pain or just, you know, having trouble communicating or just doesn’t feel good.”
The Christmas cards are thankfully bringing joy to the Fausett’s home, helping Addie enjoy her favorite time of the year. When she feels well enough, she goes on the daily trip to the Fountain Green post office to pick up more cards to open and enjoy.
“She loves it. She just smiles. And some of them are her boyfriends. One little boy put that he was her boyfriend, and another little one she said, ‘This one is my boyfriend.’”
Addie’s older sisters sit and open the cards with Addie and then hang them up on the walls of their home for all to see. Tami hopes that the cards keep coming so they can “cover all the walls with them, for Addie.”
If you would like to send a card to 6-year-old Addie Fausett, mail it to: Addie and Her Family, P.O Box 162, Fountain Green, Utah, 84632.