Monday, September 15, 2008

Make-A-Wish

You might remember that Frankie was given a "Wish" from the Make-A-Wish Organization.

This happened after his Crohns Disease caused his intestines to kink, which caused Peritonitis, which was nearly fatal. It's similar to a ruptured appendix. It took him months and months to get over this. The Crohns Disease itself is a chronic illness, which he deals with, and has dealt with, since he was in 5th grade.

After his months in the hospital, he was nominated for a wish. We all had a lot of ideas, but he got to decide. And he decided he wanted to go on a specific roller coaster, the extreme coaster. Which happened to be in California.


So it was lovely for all of us. He went on more than just that one rollercoaster; he went on coasters in Disney, and at Knotts Berry Farm, as well as Six Flags California.

Recently, a short article about Frankie was written in the Make a Wish Newsletter if you want to read it...


Before Frankie found out about his wish, he was very down about a lot of things. He felt like he had the worst luck in the world. He went through so much, I can't even explain it all to you in a blog post.

Two things happened that changed his mind about that. One thing -- Eddie Vedder called him. And the second thing, even bigger -- was the Make a Wish trip. He stopped thinking of his luck as "bad", and started thinking of his luck as "Extreme." Like the roller coaster, the X coaster, was extreme. He has extremely bad luck, but he also has extremely good luck. It made him feel a lot better about himself and what he went through.

Well, in October there will be a walkathon for Make A Wish at the Liberty State Park, and we've decided to walk, kinda as a "thank you" for what the Make A Wish Organization does for children who go through so much trauma. I just thought I'd mention it. If you decide you want to donate to a good cause, I hope you'll consider donating to Make A Wish. My walkathon page can be reached from this link.

Thank you for considering this. If you can donate, that would be great. If you can't, I completely understand; everyone has their own charities that they support. But I figured, what's the harm in asking?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i love the roller coaster pictures. it looks like fun.
i get dizzy, so i prefer carousels or ferris wheels. one day, i'd like to try the tunnel of love ride. i know, i know. kiddie rides.
i'm bad.

Sue said...

I can't do roller coasters either. I just watch. I can handle the tea cups, though -- and Frankie isn't as good on those.

The kiddie rides are the best of all, especially at Disney. I love Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan!