A trip to Disneyland capped off the Howe children’s summer holidays, thanks to the generosity of an Edmonton couple.
George Mounsef and Sage Morin lost their two-year-old toddler in a patio collision caused by an alleged drunk driver in May 2013.
They wanted to pay back the kindness they received at the time by helping those dealing with a similar tragedy.
The family contacted MADD Canada and the organization connected them with the Howe family of Red Deer.
Brad, 34, and Krista Howe, 35, were killed on Feb. 7, 2010, when a drunk driver plowed into their car at a Red Deer intersection. The couple were declared dead at the scene. Their deaths orphaned five young children.
Four of the children — Cory, Molly, Mackenzie, Maggie and Ashley, now between the ages of nine and 19 —are in the care of their aunt Karla Green, 38, a Red Deer College nursing instructor. Ashley lives with another relative.
Green began looking after the children shortly after the death of their parents.
She said the family felt really grateful that someone would think of them and to reach out.
The family left for Disneyland on Aug. 18 and spent four fun-filled days in California.
“It was awesome,” said Green. “We did every ride possible. We spent all day there. We saw a lot of shows. It was really great. We had a lot of fun.”
Green said the children are doing great and preparing to return to school.
The family went to Disneyland about four years ago with Dreams Take Flight but some of the children were too young to remember it well.
“This was really nice because it was a big focus for our family to spend time together,” said Green. “It was really nice for us all to get together. It gave us a good trip as a family because everybody is getting bigger.”
Green met with the Edmonton family that made the trip possible on Saturday, after they returned.
“We let him know how grateful we were for the opportunity,” said Green. “It brought our whole family together to do something really fun and create great memories. We were just really grateful that they created that opportunity for us. We felt really thankful the whole time that we were there.”
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com