It’s Springtime in Paris… at Kaiser Permanente Roseville

Although Ashley Tapparo’s cancer battle prevented her from traveling to Paris, the artistic 18-year-old found a way to not only experience her beloved City of Light but also to share it with other hospitalized children.

Ashley’s sketches inspired the transformation of the playroom in the Kaiser Permanente Roseville Women & Children’s Center into a magical springtime in Paris with an orchard of trees in bloom, flowers, wildlife, a pond, and a waterfall. Passing though the Arc de Triomphe, the decor transports visitors to a street scene with an outdoor café, boulangerie and, of course, the Eiffel Tower.

The Pont des Arts, a Parisian bridge famous for the locks once placed there by sweethearts, is also replicated. Staff, patients, and family members can write notes of hope and healing and lock them onto the wall for others to read.

When Kaiser Permanente Child Life Specialist Traci Aoki-Tan suggested the team use Ashley’s sketches to transform the playroom, Ashley was excited and inspired to help in the efforts. “This has been her inspiration to make sure all the kids on the floor have something fun to look at, to see a different world, apart from the hospital and the battles they are fighting,” said Sara Tapparo, Ashley’s mom.

A team of nurses, carpenters, painters, and volunteers spent countless hours sourcing, building, and creating items to use in the room.

Ashley helped craft some of the decorations but chose to wait until the room was finished to see it for herself. For the big reveal, she was joined by her parents, siblings, grandparents, nurses, doctors, and other members of her care team, many of whom had a hand in building, painting, or crafting items for the room.

“This is literally as if you are walking through Ashley’s brain,” said her mom. “It’s just amazing the things she puts on paper, and for the care team here to give her the opportunity to do this was wonderful.”

“Her art is so powerful, it’s not only on paper, but it’s going to touch so many other people,” said Brittany Tapparo, Ashley’s older sister. “She’s doing this for the other kids here. She’s excited about the art but she’s more excited about watching everyone else come through and hearing the stories of others who get to experience it as well.”

“I’m very excited because I love making other kids smile,” said Ashley. “Thank you for making my dreams come true.”