(no subject)
Something a little more cheery than my posts as of late :)
There’s something magical about a wish. Whenever you just say the word, images pop into your mind; maybe birthday candles, maybe genies in bottles, a wooden puppet coming to life, or maybe the dreams of a little child. When you make a wish, your mind goes past what you see in front of you, and looks forward to a future yet unseen. When a wish is granted, we see a door opening to a brighter future, with new possibilities.
I think that’s part of the magic of Make-A-Wish. For a brief moment, a child who is fighting against odds that seem unbeatable can look past the fight, into a future of dreams and hopes. I remember the dreams I had 10 years ago as a young teenager in high school fighting my fight; dreams of a normal life, to walk from my house to my school without collapsing, to play in the band without getting dizzy from exhaustion, and to go on camping trips with my Boyscout troop. After a year of chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was complete, the 75% chance of survival the doctors gave us at the beginning didn’t seem intimidating at all, and the future seemed bright.
But Make-A-Wish wanted to make things just a little bit brighter, and made us an offer to grant a wish that I had. At first, I refused; after a year of struggling through chemotherapy, I just wanted that chapter of my life to be gone and over, and never think about it again. I had my future in front of me, and I was sure there were other children that needed more attention than I did. But the more Make-A-Wish came back to offer us the opportunity, the more I realized the real significance of what they were offering. It was a chance for people to show the full kindness we are capable of, to open doors to a future that no one thinks possible. I asked myself, if I were in their shoes, wouldn’t I jump at the chance to do the same for another child?
And so, we took the opportunity to go see one of my favorite species of animals on the planet: orca whales. As a child, I was always fascinated by amazing diversity of creatures God left us on this planet, and orcas in particular were a favorite. But we weren’t just going to see them performing in a theme park; no, Make-A-Wish opened an opportunity to see them in a way we would never get to otherwise…out in the wild on the ocean. For one week, Make-A-Wish took us to Alaska, where we were able not just enjoy the scenery, but go out almost every day to go whale watching, in the hopes of spotting a pod of orcas.
I don’t think words can really describe the experience of that summer. Each time we went out with Captain Larry and his crew, he would have every boat he knew in the area searching for any wandering pod of orcas that we would be able to go to. As the week went on with no orcas spotted, it became more and more apparent that everyone was working together to find some orcas. Each of the boats out in the area knew that there was a wish-child there, and that his wish was to see orcas.
We got to the last day of the trip. We had seen humpback whales, eagles, countless other animals, but no orcas. One last time, we went out in search of orcas, realizing that it was possible that we just weren’t going to get to see any on the trip. But just like in a good story, the suspense built up into a climax. The boat raced out of the harbor unusually fast, and we soon realized why. Another boat had spotted a pod, and we were there in no time, and we got the chance to see a whole group of orcas in the wild. Not only that, there was even a baby orca in the group too, swimming next to its mother. If that wasn’t enough, the orcas put on a show that even the captain of the boat had never seen before: the orcas started chasing after a group of porpoises, and we got to see a hunt from start to finish. Watching the orcas leaping through the air, crashing into the porpoises, and at the end even teaching the baby how to do a little hunting, was probably the most exhilarating experience in my life; all of us were on the edge of our seat the entire time.
To everyone involved in my wish, one thing was clear: there was a wish-child, and something magical was going to happen. Because of the love and generosity of Make-A-Wish, I was able to go on an adventure that I never would have dreamed of, and end a seemingly dark chapter of my life with the greatest experience my family has ever had. Since then, I’ve moved on to the next chapters of my life; now I’m working towards my PhD in Chemical engineering. In my free time, I teach Sunday school at my church, and play in the UCLA alumni band at football games. But I can look back at those years in high school now with joyful memories, remembering the chance to see humans show just how much love and compassion we are capable of, and remembering a little boy who got his wish.
They were doing some fund raisers, and wanted some of the wish kids to send our stories for them to share for doing fund raisers and stuff. This was the story I sent them of my wish.
There’s something magical about a wish. Whenever you just say the word, images pop into your mind; maybe birthday candles, maybe genies in bottles, a wooden puppet coming to life, or maybe the dreams of a little child. When you make a wish, your mind goes past what you see in front of you, and looks forward to a future yet unseen. When a wish is granted, we see a door opening to a brighter future, with new possibilities.
I think that’s part of the magic of Make-A-Wish. For a brief moment, a child who is fighting against odds that seem unbeatable can look past the fight, into a future of dreams and hopes. I remember the dreams I had 10 years ago as a young teenager in high school fighting my fight; dreams of a normal life, to walk from my house to my school without collapsing, to play in the band without getting dizzy from exhaustion, and to go on camping trips with my Boyscout troop. After a year of chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was complete, the 75% chance of survival the doctors gave us at the beginning didn’t seem intimidating at all, and the future seemed bright.
But Make-A-Wish wanted to make things just a little bit brighter, and made us an offer to grant a wish that I had. At first, I refused; after a year of struggling through chemotherapy, I just wanted that chapter of my life to be gone and over, and never think about it again. I had my future in front of me, and I was sure there were other children that needed more attention than I did. But the more Make-A-Wish came back to offer us the opportunity, the more I realized the real significance of what they were offering. It was a chance for people to show the full kindness we are capable of, to open doors to a future that no one thinks possible. I asked myself, if I were in their shoes, wouldn’t I jump at the chance to do the same for another child?
And so, we took the opportunity to go see one of my favorite species of animals on the planet: orca whales. As a child, I was always fascinated by amazing diversity of creatures God left us on this planet, and orcas in particular were a favorite. But we weren’t just going to see them performing in a theme park; no, Make-A-Wish opened an opportunity to see them in a way we would never get to otherwise…out in the wild on the ocean. For one week, Make-A-Wish took us to Alaska, where we were able not just enjoy the scenery, but go out almost every day to go whale watching, in the hopes of spotting a pod of orcas.
I don’t think words can really describe the experience of that summer. Each time we went out with Captain Larry and his crew, he would have every boat he knew in the area searching for any wandering pod of orcas that we would be able to go to. As the week went on with no orcas spotted, it became more and more apparent that everyone was working together to find some orcas. Each of the boats out in the area knew that there was a wish-child there, and that his wish was to see orcas.
We got to the last day of the trip. We had seen humpback whales, eagles, countless other animals, but no orcas. One last time, we went out in search of orcas, realizing that it was possible that we just weren’t going to get to see any on the trip. But just like in a good story, the suspense built up into a climax. The boat raced out of the harbor unusually fast, and we soon realized why. Another boat had spotted a pod, and we were there in no time, and we got the chance to see a whole group of orcas in the wild. Not only that, there was even a baby orca in the group too, swimming next to its mother. If that wasn’t enough, the orcas put on a show that even the captain of the boat had never seen before: the orcas started chasing after a group of porpoises, and we got to see a hunt from start to finish. Watching the orcas leaping through the air, crashing into the porpoises, and at the end even teaching the baby how to do a little hunting, was probably the most exhilarating experience in my life; all of us were on the edge of our seat the entire time.
To everyone involved in my wish, one thing was clear: there was a wish-child, and something magical was going to happen. Because of the love and generosity of Make-A-Wish, I was able to go on an adventure that I never would have dreamed of, and end a seemingly dark chapter of my life with the greatest experience my family has ever had. Since then, I’ve moved on to the next chapters of my life; now I’m working towards my PhD in Chemical engineering. In my free time, I teach Sunday school at my church, and play in the UCLA alumni band at football games. But I can look back at those years in high school now with joyful memories, remembering the chance to see humans show just how much love and compassion we are capable of, and remembering a little boy who got his wish.
They were doing some fund raisers, and wanted some of the wish kids to send our stories for them to share for doing fund raisers and stuff. This was the story I sent them of my wish.