HOLLAND, Mich. — A Mississippi family will make their first visit to Holland for this year’s Tulip Time festival, honoring their late daughter, Colbi, through their deep connection to tulips and the Welcome to Holland poem, which became a guiding symbol during her life.
Colbi Capuano died in 2025 at age 6 after living with hydroxyglutaric aciduria, a rare mitochondrial disorder.
WATCH: Mississippi family’s Holland connection inspires trip to Tulip Time in late daughter’s honor
“Colbi was just that joyous ... she was nonverbal, but that did not stop her from showing her personality. She was a diva. She told you exactly what she wanted and when she wanted it,” said mother, Megan Capuano. “She is contagious, her personality, her love, her joy. If you were in a bad mood, you could just come to my house and you could just pick her up, and she would just smile at you or laugh at you.”
After Colbi’s delivery, the Capuanos spent 223 days at a children’s hospital three hours from home, where doctors discovered her mitochondria did not function properly.
“Our little thing is rare, she was one of two in the United States, and in 2019 she was one of 12 in the world,” Megan explained. “There really isn’t a lot of research on it and the doctors just kind of prepped us for the worst, and told us six months is what we’re going to give you all. And we had six beautiful years.”
In the first months of Colbi’s life, Megan’s father shared Welcome to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley, a poem written from the perspective of a parent with a disabled child.
“It is just so beautiful. And when he gave it to us, I don’t know why, it just kind of plunked our hearts, and it became our motto,” Megan said. “He handed me the poem, and he said, no matter what, everything’s going to be okay, because we didn’t have a diagnosis yet, and we only knew very little of her at the time.”
The family created their own “Holland” in Mississippi.
“That Holland is chaotic and crazy and wild and adventurous, needless to say, right? So our house is literally called the tulip house now,” Megan said. “She couldn’t get overheated, because her body couldn’t regulate her temperature. So, our house stayed at about 67, so we felt like we were in Holland.”
Tulips became an enduring part of Colbi’s life, and now, memory.
“Every one of her bags is monogrammed with Colbi in a tulip. Her handkerchiefs at her service all had tulips on it. We had tulip pins made. I’m wearing mine right now, actually. And I think we end up making 120 of these for family and nurses,” explained Megan.
Even the bulbs in their tulip garden came from Holland, Mich.
“Our climate’s a little different down here, so they bloomed, yeah, they’ve bloomed and gone,” added Joseph.
The Capuanos had always hoped to visit Holland in the Netherlands to see the tulips as a family.
“I think that’s where Kylie jumped in. Right after Colbi passed, she was trying to book a trip to Holland,” said Megan.
“I said, I’m about to max out any credit card that I can get. We’re going, I don’t care,” Kylee recalled.
Their plans changed when they learned about Holland, Mich., and its Tulip Time festival.
“We received a pair of wooden shoes that came from Holland, Michigan, and that was the first thing, the first time we’d ever heard of it. And then when we found out about the Tulip Time Festival, we just knew we had to come and see it,” said Joseph.
The family will attend this year’s festival in Colbi’s honor.
“Definitely excited. It’s going to be an emotional trip, for sure. You know, a lot of mixed emotions. We can’t wait,” Joseph said.
“I think being there is going to be very, in awe is what I say, because as I see her right now, she’s running through a garden of tulips, living her best life right now. So, I think it’s going to be a lot, but it’s going to be amazing,” Megan added. “It really will be. I think it’s going to bring a sense of peace and just pure joy.”
Tulip Time organizers say the Capuanos’ story has moved them.
“We were really inspired by their story,” said Tulip Time Director of Events and Operations Chad Mesbergen. “This little girl that’s touching so many lives really shined bright while she was here on this earth, and then just having this tulip relation, kind of like the tulip showing joy, she showed joy, and that’s what the family connects to. It just meant so much to our office to kind of be a part of that.”
The trip has also given the family a chance to help others.
“For her past birthday in March, we did bundles of joy, because that’s what she is for us, just what she was — a bundle of joy in everybody’s life — and we donate it to the local hospitals for the children who have genetic disorders,” Megan said.
This was the first year they made “bundles of joy”, 90 in total, delivering them to hospitals in Mississippi and planning to bring some to Holland Hospital during their visit.
“We delivered it to our children’s hospital just yesterday, because that’s the one that she was there for the longest. And then we brought 30 to the local one. And then we plan on just bringing 10 to your smaller hospital when we come up too,” explained Megan.
The Capuanos say Colbi would have loved the trip.
“She loved noise and chaos and people to be around. It was like her calming factor. So, I think she would just be in awe and just, I honestly do, I mean, it sounds silly kind of but I think she’d be at such peace and comfort. She probably would fall asleep on us,” Megan said. “She’ll be with us … I carry baby tulips in my pocket, and I hand them out to people to spread joy.”
“She would love the Michigan weather too. She’d be able to sleep enough,” added Kylee.
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