Nathan's Journey

Make A Wish came into Nathan’s life at just the right time. Before the hardest part of his journey, he was presented with a chance to make his wish. Without hesitation, he said he wanted to go to Hawaii. During Nathan’s months in the hospital and slow recovery at home, he spent a lot of time talking about this trip, what he wanted to see and do, looking at pictures and videos and basically dreaming of the day when he was going to be well enough to take this trip. Our wish granters, Barb and Lydia, made this waiting phase special by providing the kids with lots of little surprises and fun activities. Coincidentally, his trip was booked in late July, the same day he had his picc line removed after having it for over 13 months, the final obstacle in his road to aloha. November seemed like a fitting month to go because the prior November was unarguably the most difficult month of his life, the month when things just weren’t going well, when he was simultaneously fighting a virus and potential transplant failure, when he didn’t eat anything for an entire month due to medication side effects but couldn’t have any regular supplementary nutrition due to potential complications, and when he finally received a much needed second infusion of stem cells to help him recover. It was also the month when we decided to move home despite everything because we desperately needed our family to be together again. November was a month that needed to be turned around in our minds and hearts and this trip was bound to make that happen. After more than a year of planning, on November 14th Nathan cut the final link off his paper chain and we began our journey to Hawaii and the amazing Aulani resort. From the moment we entered the resort, we were treated like kings. Over the next six days of his wish at Aulani, and the additional week that we extended our trip at a lovely little cottage on the beach, we had the most amazing time. This trip brought so much fun and adventure to our entire family and turned the stress of the past year into something amazing and wonderful. I think he even forgot about his illness much of the time because, for the first time in over a year, we were able to focus on joy and just being together. That is the power of a wish… giving kids hope for brighter days while they are in the midst of their biggest challenges and then giving the kids an experience of a lifetime to help them move forward with renewed strength and joy. One year to the day since we moved home from the Ronald McDonald House, our plane landed back home after our amazing vacation thanks to Make A Wish. I can go on for endless pages about our trip but instead I will let these pictures tell the story. A huge thank you to Make-A-Wish Illinois, Disney Aulani, Barb and Lydia and everyone else who helped make this trip possible.