It's a fantastic thing to do, and most of us make wishes that never come to pass. There is, however, a Foundation that helps with the realization of wishes for critically and terminally ill children. It's called the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and they touch the lives of everyday people like you and me. Now, some of you may be wondering why this crazy photographer is writing about an organization like this, but it's simple: the lives of everyone in my family has been touched by just this Foundation. And personally, I cannot thank them enough.
Meet Amber McLeod, my great-niece. This little girl has many, many troubles, and I won't get into all of them, but I will mention that she has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and is challenged in so many ways, it's heart-breaking. She's endured more surgeries than most adults I know, and has had the Grim Reaper staring at her far too often for her tender age. But this little girl keeps on fighting; every time we start to think that "this might be it," she manages to rally and come back. In spite of the pain and other difficulties she faces, she wants to live. It's because of all this that the Make-A-Wish Foundation has become involved with Amber and her family.
Now... this isn't a woe-is-us article. I simply want to raise a little bit of awareness for what the Foundation has done for my family and many other famillies like ours. And what they have done, specifically, is to make the lives of Amber's parents a bit more manageable with things like providing a van that's equipped with a wheel-chair lift. Now Colin and Brandi (on the left,) are able to much more easily bring Amber along for a number of things. And one of the things which they have brought Amber along for, is a trip. Most children, when given the opportunity to travel anywhere, choose someplace like Disneyland or World. And that's understandable, because most children think like children. But you haven't met the rest of the family yet........ But I digress. The children, when asked where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do, chose an out-of-the-way community called Terrace, where they have a Great-Grandmother (my mother,) and a Great-Uncle (me,) whom they have never met. Naturally we were more than a little bit flattered about that, and extremely excited. This could be our only chance to meet Amber! And yet, as I've already stated, when things look really scary, she comes back fighting.
So... when the plane finally landed, on Saturday, August 20, it was more than a little bit emotional as we waited for everybody to get off... And then a flight attendant came down the gangway with a little wheelchair and we knew. Next was my sister-in-law, Susie, with little Amber in her arms, and followed by Collin, and then Ryan and Brandi, followed up by Alex, and last of all, making sure nothing was left behind or missed, Bob.
Well, let me tell you... poor mother could hardly contain herself, my sister was teary, and in all honesty, I had leaky eyeballs, too... After all, I hadn't seen Bob or Susie for a year, Collin for 14 or 15 years, and I'd never met Brandi and the kids. This was so worth the wait....
Anyhow... the adventure was just beginning, as we were going to find out. When Brandi went to see about the vehicle the Make-A-Wish was renting for them, the attendant was nowhere to be seen. I guess because the plane had been delayed, and we were kind of involved in saying hello and meeting and re-meeting, he decided to wander away from the desk, and I don't blame him. A quick call to National Car Rental, and he returned poste-haste, and was just as pleasant and helpful as you could ask. That young fellow is, IMHO, good at his job, and very professional. So far, that's the only hiccup we've really had, aside from the plane being delayed, and hopefully that's the most serious hiccup we have.
So we got the van, loaded everything and everyone up, and took the kids to the Hotel they'd be staying at, and YES, the Sandman Inn in Terrace does have a couple of wheelchair accessible rooms, that just happen to be across the hall from the swimming pool, so the kids are tickled about that. Once we had everything unpacked there, it was time to head for mum's for dinner. I don't know if mum's place has ever had so much laughter and delight, and certainly hasn't had so much noise since she's lived there. But it's all happy sounds, and such sounds, while they occasionally become a bit loud, are never unwelcome. Before I sign off, here's a few pics introducing everybody.
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| Amber |
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| Alex; genius with Aspberger's Syndrome |
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| Ryan; extreme allergies |
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| Colin and Brandi |
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| Almost everybody. |
There you have it... that's the arrival of Clan McLeod, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They've given us a beautiful, fantastic gift. And my employer, RONA Terrace, is being absolutely awesome and letting me have some extra time off and being flexible in scheduling so I can share this time with them. It's kind of amazing how people sit up and take notice, and want to help to make this visit go as smoothly and wonderfully as possible. More to come as the week progresses, with more photos, and more on the family. It's going to be an adventure, and I hope you enjoy reading about this as much as I do doing and writing about it.
Lewis
