Powerful Love

Kelsey and Jordan Bickimer are a typical brother and sister — sometimes they get along great and sometimes they argue like sworn enemies.
But when Kelsey, 10, had to be hospitalized again from complications due to the congential heart disease she was born with, Jordan wanted to do something to help.
“I knew there wasn’t anything I could do to make her better,” says Jordan, 13. “But I could do something that would make her happy.”
Jordan started with something that Kelsey loved, the Powerpuff Girls and especially the blonde-haired Bubbles, and he began to research.
“I found out how to contact Tara Strong,” says Jordan. “She does the voice of Bubbles and a lot of other cartoon characters.”
Jordan wrote to Strong telling her about Kelsey and her health problems. He hoped that Strong would send an autographed picture and he included their phone number on the off chance that Strong would call. He never told Kelsey about his plan, only that he had a surprise for her.
“That was real hard,” says Jordan.
Kelsey had surgery on June 3 to have a mechanical St. Jude valve installed to replace the valve she had received years before. She was released from the hospital on Monday, June 7, but had to remain on intravenious antibiotics for another three weeks. On June 27, the day she got to remove the antibiotic catheter, she received a phone call that stunned her.
“I answered the phone and she said, ‘Hi, this is Tara Strong,’” says dad Alan, “‘I play the voice of Bubbles on the Powerpuff Girls. Your son wrote me this great letter. Is Kelsey okay?’”
Strong was impressed by Jordan’s writing abilities and that he would go to such efforts for his sister.
“She asked, ‘Did he do this himself?’” says Alan.
No one told Kelsey who was calling for her. A video taken of the phone call shows a little girl with wide eyes so surprised she hardly knew what to say. Strong asked how she was and told Kelsey she’d been so worried about her after she read Jordan’s letter.
“She talked like Bubbles,” Kelsey says. “She sounded just like on the show. She asked me what shows I like to watch and about movies. I told her Bubbles was my favorite. We talked about Mojo Jojo (the Powerpuff Girls evil enemy).”
But Strong didn’t leave it at that. She called Kelsey again on Tuesday, July 8, to ask how she was doing and to ask for a mailing address. Kelsey is now anxiously awaiting to see what new surprise is in store.
Kelsey’s not sure why she likes Bubbles the best, but she thinks its because she makes her laugh. Jordan has other ideas.
“Bubbles is just like her,” he says, gesturing towards his sister. “Nice one minute, but make her mad…”
“Having a daughter so sick and getting all this special attention, I’ve always worried about Jordan,” says Alan, remembering the nights that he and his wife Tammy traded off sleeping at the hospital with Kelsey. “I was astounded that through all of this that he was trying to do something good for her.
“Tara said she was taken aback by a brother who would do this for his sister. She said, ‘I’ve never had a brother write such nice things about a sister.’”
“I was totally surprised,” says Jordan. “She said I was the coolest big brother she’d ever known and she was proud of me.”
Of course, the Bickimers, who are somewhat movie buffs anyway, have seen the new Powerpuff Girls movie. They cheered loudly for everything that Bubbles did, even though people looked at them funny according to Jordan.
As the siblings watch the video of the phone call again, Kelsey leans over to kiss Jordan on the check. Then she socks him in the arm. Just typical siblings.