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When my son Armand was very young, less than 2 years, we went to The Children's Museum of Indianapolis a few times. He certainly liked it -- climbing in Playscape, making his way through the tunnels in the science area, and so forth. But he wasn't quite fixated on it yet; he didn't see it as someplace special.
Just after he turned 2, he was diagnosed with an advanced stage-4 abdominal cancer. After a long summer of near-constant hospitalization in 2009, he had a few weeks at home before a surgery. Friends from his day care purchased a one-year museum membership for us, and we took every chance we could get to visit.
His first time back was very different. A few months made a big difference; he was much more aware and much more in awe. During the most intense of his treatments, he had to be kept away from other children, so we only came early in the morning and went to exhibits where there was more free space. He developed quite a love for the carousel, riding it over and over again, changing horses every time.
But his true awe was reserved for the Dinosphere. When he came to it for the first time in months, he developed the distinctive fixation on dinosaurs that only a two-year-old can truly understand. He'd run around naming dinosaurs and asking me how the T-Rex got in there. Glorious stuff. We went again and again over the course of his illness, whenever he was well enough to travel. Whenever he was in the museum, it was as if the cancer wasn't happening.
Armand is in remission now, and perhaps cancer will one day be a distant memory. Even now, at four years old, he calls this place "Dinosaur Museum," and every week, he asks if we can go to the Dinosaur Museum. And most weeks, we do. We renewed that membership after a year, and as long as we live in Indianapolis, we'll always be members.
Name: Paul F. P. Pogue, member for 2 years
Just after he turned 2, he was diagnosed with an advanced stage-4 abdominal cancer. After a long summer of near-constant hospitalization in 2009, he had a few weeks at home before a surgery. Friends from his day care purchased a one-year museum membership for us, and we took every chance we could get to visit.
His first time back was very different. A few months made a big difference; he was much more aware and much more in awe. During the most intense of his treatments, he had to be kept away from other children, so we only came early in the morning and went to exhibits where there was more free space. He developed quite a love for the carousel, riding it over and over again, changing horses every time.
But his true awe was reserved for the Dinosphere. When he came to it for the first time in months, he developed the distinctive fixation on dinosaurs that only a two-year-old can truly understand. He'd run around naming dinosaurs and asking me how the T-Rex got in there. Glorious stuff. We went again and again over the course of his illness, whenever he was well enough to travel. Whenever he was in the museum, it was as if the cancer wasn't happening.
Armand is in remission now, and perhaps cancer will one day be a distant memory. Even now, at four years old, he calls this place "Dinosaur Museum," and every week, he asks if we can go to the Dinosaur Museum. And most weeks, we do. We renewed that membership after a year, and as long as we live in Indianapolis, we'll always be members.
Name: Paul F. P. Pogue, member for 2 years
