I have a couple stories to tell and I hope this one at least makes its way back to Disney and the Disney Dream. While on the cruise we learned about pin trading. We were taught the premise of it by a young lady named Catherine from Merchandise who was on her final night of her contract. She explained the whole system and we each purchased lanyards and a bunch of pins. In the conversation she mentioned asking Mickey to help us out on our pin trading journey. Later that evening we received a letter in our stateroom from Catherine along with 4 hidden Mickey pins to help us on our way. Sweet!! Right away Lucas and I headed down to merchandising to try to do an Act for her.
When we arrived there we came with cash, a card and a bracelet to tell the story and thank her. As we explained what we do her enthusiasm dimmed as she explained that she couldn’t take cash or gifts as it was against policy. Instead she told me to take the money and pay it forward in her name to someone else. She did take the bracelet and card and thanked us. Later that night we got another letter from her telling us what a wonderful of a gift we gave her even though she could not accept the monetary part. She received the Act of learning how great it is to receive and give.
Well two days later at The Magic Kingdom we repaid it in her name. I was speaking to a wonderful man and his family from Ecuador. We had a lot of time to share stories. Brandee nudged me and we knew this was the person who should receive Carherines Act. We had purchased an Elsa Barbie doll earlier so we presented it to their little girl. Act passed forward. Thank you Catherine for realizing the true meaning of paying it forward. It was a wonderful gift you shared and we all learned from it.
Steve Lendosky
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