Thursday, March 3, 2011

A Double-Header

This Monday was jam-packed! And in the best way possible! I called it a double-header Wish Day, because Terri and I had two wishes to grant...get-er-done, baby!
First up was Miss Vivian, who is every Disney princess imaginable all balled up in one oh-so-cute 3-year old! Her family moved here less than a year ago, and within weeks she was diagnosed with Wilm's tumor (a malignant kidney cancer in children) and that has been 100% of their focus from that moment). **Sidebar**When we met her family in December, her mom still didn't know where the mall was after 9 months! Clearly, they need some *happy* in their lives! So we sent her and her sweet family off to Disney World with a super fun party, and invited her pre-school class to join us to celebrate!
As always, we had the most perfect cake ever, to celebrate this princess!
We had Vivi's party at Monkey Joe's, which is the perfect place for parties! It's FULL OF bouncy thingys, and my favorite of the day was definitely the princess castle of course!
We could barely contain Miss Priss, or all her friends! We finally figured out how to round everyone up, when we mentioned "pizza" and "cake"...that'll do it every time!
We opened lots of fun princess-y prizes for Miss Vivi, and then sang "Happy Wish Day!" to her, as she blew out her candles to make her wish come true!! Vivian lights up a room, and she and her brothers are so covered with love from their parents; there isn't a more deserving family out there, I can promise you that! I cannot wait to get together with her family when they return to hear all about her trip! Happy Wish Day, Vivi!
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(Insert a mad-dash through the rain, across town, with balloons, cupcakes, and LOTS of gifts)
We also had the honor of hosting a Wish Party for a very special young lady, Jacquiline. She's so shy, right? This 17 year old is the perfect combination of sarcasm and wit and beauty and brains. We definitely were making wise cracks at each other all night. Though her Lupus diagnosis (a disease affecting her immune system) is why we've been brought together, I'm hoping emailing and facebook will keep us there!
When Jackie was asked what her BIGGEST WISH in the world would be, she simply said "to have a laptop of my own." More specifically, a silver one with black accents, with a large screen (for her deteriorating eyesight) so needless to say we knew exactly what to do! So as you can see, we came fully armed with LOTS of prizes!We met her whole family for a celebration dinner at her favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden, and ordered everything on the menu! And for dessert...red velvet cupcakes....her favorite of course! (Though it seems we like the icing the most, ha!)And after a very patient young lady waited for an eternity staring at all those gifts....we tore into them! First up was the printer/scanner/fax/copier! Followed by her Dell laptop with a HUGE screen (silver, of course), a laptop desk, a DIGITAL camera (cool!) with card and case, extra print catridges and paper for her printer, lots of CDs and cases, headphones, wireless mouse, a computer bag, and MAW t-shirt....ok, that's all I can remember....CRAZY, right?!?!I was so impressed how much time she took to read each personal note from all the MAW volunteers at headquarters on the card they asked me to give her. (What child does that?!) In fact, she found the card at the bottom of one bag and said, "Hey, you're supposed to read the card first!" Good girl, your mama taught you right! (I always look at the check...kidding, mom.)Terri and I managed to squeeze in a picture here, see we were there. And tired. And oh so happy. **Sidebar here** I asked Jackie what she wanted her laptop for. She said not really for games and stuff, but pretty much for online homework assignments. Again, what child would say that!? I'm so impressed with her!Her whole family was so emotional, and grateful for the evening, but I do understand why, I really do. Make-A-Wish is providing something they may not be able to financially, or frankly just isn't a priority at the time when you're focusing on health concerns. But what I don't think they'll ever understand is how emotional, and grateful I am for the evening as well. I go home feeling so much fuller, and alive, and humbled. NOT because I did a good deed, but because I see families happy I know have been burdened so long, I see kids laughing who have been stuck with needles, and I am reminded in those precious moments that God is Good.

1 comment:

  1. And I'm in tears yet again. Can you get me hooked up with Make-A-Wish here since you're the MAW queen??? I've wanted to do it since I first started hearing your stories. So serious. Maybe Jess will do it with me??

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