REMEMBERING ANNALISE'S WISH TRIP
Your Wish Was Granted
Disney Make-A-Wish Trip Nov. 15-21 2019
I’m so grateful for the time we had to do this. She was feeling so good. We were feeling so hopeful. We knew we were coming home to a new round of treatment and we believed that would give us even more time. Looking back at these pictures and clips, I’m reminded of the smiles, laughs and hugs we shared. That’s priceless.
SELFIE BREAK
Here we are just hanging-out, waiting for the parade to start. I love this moment. It was unseasonably cold for Florida, so we all bundled up in Disney gear and although it was November, the kingdom was decorated for Christmas — her favorite holiday. It was perfect. It was Day 1 of our 7 day trip and we were so excited.
SILLY IN THE VILLA
This is another one of my favorite memories with her. We were just hanging out in our villa at the Give Kids The World Village. As a souvenir, Sebastian picked out this foam Indiana Jones sword at Disney Hollywood Studios. Annalise was feeling so good that she just grabbed it and started attacking me with it (“Get Daddy!” was a game she came up with to attack me and we all loved it.) I think one of the key aspects of being a “fun dad” is just letting your kids feel like they can beat you up every now and again. Since she got sick, she never did this kind of roughhousing. Well, this is her feeling well and she really got into this! Her laughter was addictive in the moment so I kept going bigger and bigger. I’ll cherish this moment forever. Especially the sweet little “Boop, boop, boop.“ she adds at the end.
HOOPIN’ IN HOO-VILLE
In Dr. Suessville at Universal Studios, Annalise grabbed a hoola-hoop and did her thing! She was in a wheelchair for much of the day, and she hadn’t hooped since she got sick, so this was a jaw-dropping, proud dad moment. Annalise was already my hero, but this showed me just how powerful of a soul my girl was, and still is.
“SO, SO, SO, SO, SO FUN.”
When we got home, Annalise was so excited to share the details of our trip that she sat down and penned a letter to her cousins Brynn & Wyatt, Aunt Dana, Uncle Brett, and their dog, Smokey. I absolutely love this piece of paper. I’m so very grateful that Dana & Brett preserved this letter to later gift it to us in a frame. I read it every day. It’s in our kitchen. For always.
My favorite part of her letter is the part where she realized that she’s a “fantastic swimmer.”
She had totally forgot how good she was. And out of all the things we did in Disney, it brings me so much joy and peace knowing that she re-discovered this about herself. Annalise was reluctant to even go swimming, but Jen gave her a pep talk and soon she was over her hangups and into the water. It was an amazing thing to see.
MY FAVORITE FAMILY PICTURE
Annalise would often ask me to put her on my back and swim around like I was her boat.
We both loved it. If I close my eyes, I can still feel her on my back.
THANK YOU
MAKE-A-WISH
Make-A-Wish is truly an amazing charity. They do so much for the families and I will forever support them. With Covid-19 restrictions in place, any travel-related wishes are being put off or replaced. I’m grateful that we had ours at the perfect time for Annalise.
Please consider giving to Make-A-Wish and the Give Kids The World Village. Hopefully with added support, they’ll be able to grant more wishes that don’t require travel and they can use the extra funds to maintain the Village, which is truly a wonderful place.
The kids and their families go through so much. They deserve this time to make precious memories, without the added stress that goes into planning a vacation.
Make-A-Wish makes it possible.