Make a Wish

Taylor was granted a wish by the Make a Wish Foundation in January 2005. Due to my pregnancy complications we were unable to travel until after the birth of our son and the wish we chose for Taylor needed good weather, so we set dates to take her wish trip March 15, 2006. We would have spent that day traveling and the following day, Taylor's 5th birthday, at Sea World in San Diego. Unfortunately, on March 13, 2006 we had a medical emergency with our son and our nightmare with him began (I need to make a blog for him). He was unable to be any real distance from a hospital and surgery after surgery and almost 1 yr later, he was given permission to travel. There is no way we would have taken the trip without him and his presence helped make it that much more complete.

When we first told the volunteers with MAW what we wanted for Taylor (she was non-verbal at the time the wish was granted) we were told she was too young. We wanted her to swim with dolphins. Taylor LOVES the water and she loves all animals. Due to restrictions on her ability to fly, we knew it needed to be in driving distance and she was not into Disneyland. So we chose the zoo and sea world for her and even in the span of the 2 years it took to get to her wish, we would not have changed it. It was absolutely the best wish for her.

We left on March 5, 2007. It was a loooong drive, about 10 hours and we thank AVIS profussely for providing a rental car with a DVD System! The hotel was gorgeous and it has everything we could have hoped for. The views were incredible and the room was huge. We spent March 6 at Sea World. The weather was perfect. My closest and oldest friend met us there with her family (husband, 3 yr old daughter and 5 month old son) and we fed the dolphins, watched the dolphin show, took 500 pictures of everything! We then had lunch with Shamu (MAW did not pay for any expenses for our friends, they payed their own way) and that was very cool. You sit next to his big tank and eat as the trainers tell you about orca's and he swims around. I then decided I would ask a trainer privately if they would allow Taylor to have a priavte meeting with Shamu after his big show. After speaking with the head honcho's of the whale department, they agreed and were actually excited about it. The whale was show incredible and Taylor enjoyed every second and she had NO idea what was next, but she did say (she is verbal now, but not good at it!) repeatdly she wanted to pet shamu, little did she know! After the show the trainer found us and walked us back. Our friends got to go with us too. If you could have only seen her face when shamu swam over to her. Makes me want to cry even remembering it. Nothing will ever top that look. We lifted her from her chair and leaned her over the side of the tank and she was able to rub and pet shamu and even kissed him! She also got to feed him. The staff and trainers were all there and no one rushed us or made us feel bad that we asked, they took pictures for us and they were just above and beyond to make this special for Taylor. She spent about 25 minutes with him. We really understood what MAW was about at that time. We have had 5 years of hell at that point and in those 25 minutes, we forgot it all, and it was about her and us and we enjoyed every second.

March 7 was spent at the Zoo....my advice on the San Diego Zoo? Wear the best, most comfortable shoes as you can find! I was not expected that many hills and I was out of shape and I did get crabby a few times! It was hard to push her chair and our son's stroller up some of those monster hills and the people movers they have are not wide enough for her chair (someone call ADA...lol) But, she loved seeing all the animals and we saw EVERY animal! The weather was again perfect and the animals were all out. We spent most of the day there and after a rest at the hotel, we went to the beach. The kids had never been to the beach and they thought it was pretty cool! Dinner with our friends ended our tiring day.

March 8, we went to the WildLife park. On the way there our son began to vomit, this was concerning as he is not allowed to vomit (yes, i Know, I will get moving on his blog!) so we were a little worried but figured it was the yogurt his sister gave him that morning (yup, she got time out). Did I mention the hills being an issue at the zoo? OMG, the wildlife park was worse! I was a little disappointed at the lack of exhibits they had and the best was the lion one. We did see a snow tiger and I love those! During lunch our son got sick again and again and we had to leave and make arrangements with his pediatrician 10 hours away to call in a prescription for an anti-vomiting suppository to the pharmacy. That was a huge ordeal, but we got them and we got the vomiting stopped.

March 9, was another day at the zoo. We were able to see the animals we didnt see on Wed and the exhibit and shows we didnt see. We took it easy and took our time and still only spent about 2 hours there. With left over money, we went back to Sea World. My friend and her daughter came with us and it was still fun. Taylor loved watching the shows again and she got to pick out some awesome suvioners. Our son, wiped out from the day before slept most of the time.

March 10, time to go home. We are all tired and I ended up getting sick on the way home. That was a miserable drive! Even had I forseen my being sick, the only thing I would have changed, was treating our boy like he had the flu! LOL. I would change nothing else and we had a satisfying, suprisingly relaxing, once in a lifetime vacation and in the end, going when she was 1 week away from 6 was probably better than her 5th birthday. I think she was able to enjoy herself more and had more an understanding of what we were doing.

In August, we were invited to the MAW radiothon fundraiser for 105.1 KNCI and Taylor and I talked with the radio host and Taylor was giddly shouting that she pet shamu into the microphone.

In October we went to the annual Wishmaker Ball and it was humbling being there and being with a lot of parents whose children were no longer here.

Make a Wish is the most amazing organization. When I felt like I was asking a lot, they kept asking and offering. Our workers were the most amazing ladies and they helped make this such a wonderful experience.

Donate, donate your time, your money, anything you can. Their cause helps take the pain, the sting and the sorrow out of someone's life for a brief time and leaves them with lifetime of memories. We know every second we have with Taylor is a blessing and every second of that time with her, being with things she loves, was the best gift possible!