I have tried to write this blog post for the past 5 months! Every time I sit down to do it, I realize I have no idea even where to start. We have thousands of pictures, and even more memories…how do you tie all of that up with a neat bow for a blog post? Then I realized I didn’t need to. 🙂 I just needed to start writing, and go from there. This trip was the trip of a LIFETIME and it most definitely needs its own place here on the blog, its own place in Brynna’s story, its own place in our memories. I know I’ll never be able to fully encompass the trip through my words, but I realized that I also didn’t share much on social media, and I don’t want to forget. I figure this will be a 3 (at least!) part blog series, and I almost started with my favorite part, but I think I’ll just do the background and overview today, interspersed with some pictures of the trip. My favorite part will come tomorrow. 🙂
It was late fall of 2018 when we received our first correspondence through Make-A-Wish. Prior to Brynna’s diagnosis, I thought that MAW was for terminally ill children, but it’s not just that…it’s for all children with a life-threatening illness, be it cancer or another disease. It’s not something we ever would have wanted to qualify for, but it sure provided an immense amount of joy and AMAZING memories to our little girl (and all of us!) who has fought so very hard, and endured so very much.
When we first started talking about Brynna’s wish, we asked her the question, “If you could go ANYWHERE or do ANYTHING in the entire world, what would you choose?” Her extremely exuberant answer…”The grocery store!! And Babu’s house!” Oh sweet, sweet girl. At that point in her treatment, she had been allowed all of 3 places – Home, Babu and Grammie’s house, and clinic/the hospital. As funny as her answer was, it also broke our hearts a bit, knowing how many “normal kid” things she had missed out on, even if she didn’t realize it.
Over the course of the following weeks, we chatted about Disney. She LOVES her Disney princesses, and loves watching the Disney parades on TV, and so we were all thrilled when the plans came through for us to go to DisneyWorld for her wish!
As I think back to the weeks leading up to our trip, I remember being caught in a terrible downward spiral (I think I shared that on IG). The fear of Brynna relapsing hit me hard that month, and I let that affect everything else. Brynna’s numbers had, out of nowhere, plummeted a week before we left for our trip…and I was terrified we would have to cancel last minute. It was also February, and I was terrified someone would get sick before we left or (worse) on the trip, and we would have to cancel. I let all of this just gain steam in my mind and heart, and it was a deep struggle every day to not let it consume me.
Brynna went on a chemo hold for a week, and the day before we were scheduled to leave for our trip, we went in for labs. It was the one and ONLY time her port clotted, and what should have been a 30 minute appointment, turned into 5 hours (and I had Cole with me, which I never do). But then her labs came back perfect, and we got the official ok, and relief washed over me. I also remember questioning WHY we chose February…flu season was still running rampant out here, what were we thinking!? Why didn’t we wait? Wait until the fall, when it wasn’t “flu” season, when Brynna would be off treatment, when Cole would be a little older? But the timing was God’s. I kept reminding myself of that, and guys, if we had waited…if we had rescheduled…we wouldn’t have gotten to go. Make-A-Wish has cancelled all travel wishes indefinitely, due to COVID. God’s timing was perfect.
My sister and her husband, as well as my best friend and her family, and my parents were able to join us which just made the time THAT much sweeter! The kids LOVED having their friends with them, and gosh, it was just the most amazing time with all of them! I can’t imagine the trip any differently.
Throughout our trip, there were so many gestures, big and small, that were just so special. On both our flight out and our flight home, they let us board the plane first, and welcomed the kids into the cockpit. We were chauffeured to and from the airport, and the gentleman who drove us to the airport had a daughter who had been diagnosed with leukemia when she was 3, relapsed when she was 8, and today is in her 20’s with a daughter. Cue all the tears. I had been struggling BIG time with the fear of relapse, leading up to this trip, and it was just a God thing, giving me that little story.
One of the major parts of a Wish trip to DisneyWorld, is the accommodations. I had never before heard of “Give Kids The World”, but it will now forever be a part of our lives. This place exists solely for Wish kids to stay. Each family gets their own “villa”, and all meals are provided for. There are small rides (carousel, train, and a couple of others), a pool and splash pad, a castle, a snoring tree (Cole’s favorite!), and all you can eat FREE ice cream, every day, all day long. I’ll never be able to describe the amazingness of this place, and it really deserves it’s own post, which I will probably do soon (along with the story of Brynna’s Star…cue alllll the tears).
As much as the main trip was for Disney, every Wish also includes days at all the other parks around Orlando, so we got to enjoy Universal Studios (well, Ben and I got a date night there!), SeaWorld, Legoland (all for Wyatt), and all the parks at Disney. We even squeezed in a beach day (which was Ben’s favorite). We fit in a LOT on our trip, and it was worth every minute!
We talk about our trip daily, and we will forever be grateful for the memories we made!! What an absolute gift, for each of us. I can’t wait to share more tomorrow!
