Last Friday, our son Josiah was granted his wish: to go to Florida and see where Mickey Mouse lives.
Before being hurled in to the world of pediatric cancer, I thought Make-A-Wish just sent kids who were dying on trips, but in reality, they serve any family whose child has a life-threatening medical condition. While Josiah is stable, he’s not out of the woods.
The group has met the wishes of more than 250,000 children around the world. It’s crazy to be a part of that number now.
We interviewed with Make-A-Wish last year. The Mid-South chapter left our house and started raising money and support for our trip. At the party on Friday, we met some of the individuals and companies who made this possible. It was humbling beyond belief.
Just two days later — one week ago — we boarded a plane and headed to Orlando, the entire trip planned and funded through Make-A-Wish.
Upon landing and picking up our rental car, we headed to Give Kids the World. GKTW is a 70-acre resort with over 140 villas. There’s a theatre, a carousel and play areas specifically designed for children with special needs. There’s a pool, ice cream parlor and giant model train set. Disney characters visit almost every day, and there’s a party every night.
During the week, we visited Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Legoland and of course Magic Kingdom.
All free of charge. And at all four parks, we enjoyed special treatment. We didn’t wait for photos with characters or rides. We didn’t pay for said photos, or the strollers we rented. We had front-row seats to shows. Patrick Rhone was right about Disney: it really is magical.
On Thursday, we drove down to Cocoa Beach to let the kids see the ocean. Even though Allison Mae is a bit of a neat-freak, she didn’t mind getting covered in sand, or covering her brother with it:
One day at breakfast, a GKTW volunteer sat down across from me. “Everyone knows how special your kids are,” he said. “But you’re special, too. It takes a lot to raise children, especially if one is sick.”
His words are still resonating with me, and they will for some time to come. He summed up this trip better than I ever could.
It was great to be at a resort where every family knows the fear Merri and I live with. It was great to see our kids run and play on the beach, and to be spoiled at Disney. But it’s good to be home, too.
