A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

Do you remember that song from Cinderella?  "A dream is a wish your heart makes, when your'e fast asleep.  In dreams you will lose your heartache, whatever you wish for you keep." I'm still singing and humming this sweet tune after our amazing adventure to Orlando, Florida!  It was a wish-come-true because of the generosity of our friends at  Make-a-Wish.  It was so much more than a trip and I will do my best to explain why it has impacted us so much . . .

When a wish is granted for a family to go to Orlando, they don't "just" go to Disney World.  There is so much more involved that requires intricate details, impeccable planning, hundreds of volunteers, a team effort made by the folks at MAW, the staff at GKTW as well as their volunteers, amusement park employees . . . the list could go on and on!  Every single detail is taken care of for the Wish Families.  Do you know what that means to someone who is planning every detail of every day, all the time - doctor appointments, therapies, school meetings, surgeries, home-health nurses and their companies, medical equipment ordering, keeping the meds ordered and up-to-date, staying on top of insurance and bills . . . you get the picture!  One of the biggest blessings of being granted a wish is that ALL of the nitty-gritty details are taken care of.  It's a relief that I cannot describe to you!

I'm mentioning GKTW quite often, and it truly is a magical place.  Give Kids the World is a park in and of itself, and it is an actual "village", where all the wish families coming to Orlando stay.  It is off-site of the parks and is home to hundreds of state-of-the-art villas, where families stay.  Wish Kids and siblings get to do so many fun things at GKTW - from horseback riding, to art projects and face painting, dance contests, and nightly parties!  There are two pools, both handicap-accessible, so every child can get in the water.  In fact, EVERYTHING at GKTW is handicap-accessible! Can you imagine the freedom that comes along with that for these kids and for their families?  There are restaurant on-site and a carousel; there is even an ice-cream parlor where you can eat as much as you want, whenever you want!

When you are there, you are surrounded by other families, from all over the world, who are in similar situations as you.  It's like being around Hope Link families for five days!  We all understand.  We all "get it", and there is a sense of belonging in that.

The people who serve at GKTWare mostly volunteers - hundreds of them, and they come in and love on each family, serving and talking to them, even carrying their trays at meal times.  They serve because they want the children and the parents to know how loved and special they are. Seeing all of the families and seeing the volunteers in action . . . well, it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed.  

Make-a-Wish granted Ellie Kate's wish to go to Orlando, and in 2009 and we took a six-year-old Conner and a six-month-old Henry Isaiah along with Ellie to GKTW.  It was an incredible time.  It was breathtaking in so many ways.  Ellie smiled there more than we had ever seen her smile before. She laughed more than she had ever laughed  She loved it all and took everything in.  We have priceless memories from that trip with Ellie Kate, memories made possible by all of those who make wishes come true for families like ours.

You can only stay once at GKTW (unless you come with a different child with a severe medical condition), so Mike and I thought that our only time to go would be with sweet Ellie.  We had no idea that we would be able to go again.  When we found out that Lucy indeed had NKH, I was desperately looking for positive things.  I needed something good and happy to focus on, and something to look forward to.  My mind jumped to our time at GKTW with Ellie Kate, and my heart found hope in knowing that we could go and experience it again, this time with a new little girl.  That thought truly gave me hope and put excitement into my hurting heart.  THAT is how amazing this place is, and their motto is, "GKTW - Where Happiness Inspires Hope".  

I have to admit, Mike and I were worried about the trip.  We were worried about traveling - how would Lucy do?  She's been on a plane before, but now she is older and likes to roll around.  Will she stay in her seat without screaming the entire time?  And little Henry and his behavior issues - would he obey or would he try to do something crazy, like jump out of the plane (seriously, that crossed our minds).  All of our worries were for nothing.  The children were all so great on the trip.  I have no complaints whatsoever about how they traveled, and that's a pretty amazing thing!

Another thing that made this trip extra-special was that we were able to go at the same time as our former home health nurse and her family.  Nurse Valerie's son Simon suffers from Muscular Dystrophy and has many health problems because of it.  Somehow, someway, we were signed up to go to Orlando at the EXACT same time!  We even had the same flights!  It was a true blessing because the boys had travel companions, and of course they just love Valerie so much.  God was so good to give us that sweet time with Valerie and her family.  It was something I could never have dreamed or planned up on my own.

Our time at GKTW this go-round was even better than our first time, and I never thought it could get any better!  Facilities were updated and the weather was perfect.  This time we knew to take it slowly, to take it all in.  We were given tickets to all of the Disney parks as well as many other area theme parks.  We had more choices than we did in 2009, and since we had done this all before, we had a good idea of when to go where, what to take with us, etc.  God just had it all fall into place, even though each day held something unexpected and unplanned.  He causes ALL THINGS to work together for the good of those who love Him.  It's truly beautiful to watch Him turn stressful, hurtful things into something happy!  

Mike and I watched as the bond between our children grew while we were in Orlando. We so enjoyed seeing the boys hold Lucy, hold her hand, encourage her on the plane and in the car. My heart was so full.  And to see their eyes in the theme parks!  Oh my goodness, they were in awe and I encouraged them to close their eyes and "take a picture in their mind to make a memory".  They did this over and over again, and so many memories were made.

We also watched Lucy blossom into a little girl who can make clear choices, and we were excited and surprised to see how bright she truly is!  Lucy started reaching purposefully for us when she wants to be held.  This is HUGE for us, and it all happened on this trip.   We cry each time she does it!  And, she picked out her own doll at Disney - an Elsa doll.  She holds it purposefully and gives Elsa kisses when I tell her to. When I've given her another doll, she will cry and throw it down, reaching for her Elsa. Do you know what this means?  My Daughter understands me!  She knows what I am saying!  I truly did not know that this was possible.  I've always talked to Lucy like she can understand me because I have thought that she and Ellie have understood more than what we think.  But to see Lucy respond in such big ways has been overwhelmingly joyful, and she found that freedom there at GKTW - the same place where Ellie Kate learned how to smile.

We had so many great adventures, Friends!  Just to give you a taste, during our stay we took part in the following:

• horseback riding
• swimming
• Magic Kingdom
• Not-so-Scary Halloween Party
• Epcot
• Animal Kingdom
• Hollywood Studios
• Universal Studios
• Downtown Disney
• Character photos and meetings
• arcade games
• putt-putt golf
• electric trains
• electric boats
• playing on the giant, handicap-accessible playground
• Pirates and Princesses party
• GKTW Halloween Party
• Eating at an Irish pub and enjoying a live band and Irish dancers
• Visiting the ice-cream parlor three times each day
• trick-or-treating
• playing in the snow
• air brush tattoos in the GKTW Spa
• And SO MUCH MORE!

As we ended our time at GKTW, we were able to see Ellie Kate's star in the "Castle of Miracles".  It is something that each Wish Child gets when they leave - a star up in the galaxy of GKTW.  Mike and I cried and held each other as they found Ellie's star and the memories of our Sweet Girl started to flood our hearts.  I was overwhelmed, and I put off the "what-if" questions and focused on the fact that God was SO good to give us such two precious little girls who were formed intimately by Him.  I left relishing in the fact that we are SO blessed to have been able to stay at this incredible place TWO times - to feel this incredible outpouring of love given to us by strangers more than the average family.  God is good.  His ways are higher than ours, and He truly does cause ALL things to work together for our good.

The "Star Tower" 

Thank you so much for praying for our trip to go smoothly. It really did exceed our wildest of dreams! God truly was in each and every detail; I cannot say that enough.  He is so faithful, even when we are not.