Disneyland a blast for Make-A-Wish recipient
Nathalie Taylor
Jeremy is back from his dream vacation to Orange County theme parks. Five-year old Jeremy, who was born with a congenital heart defect, had the trip donated by Make-A-Wish granters, Christina Macone-Greene and her husband, David Greene. Jeremy had expressed a desire to meet Pooh Bear, and as Christina explained, the Disneyland crew went over and above his wish, giving him about twenty minutes to play with Pooh as well as with Tigger and Eeyore while his parents happily snapped photos. “He got to hang out with them all by himself,” said Stephen, Jeremy’s father. “He had a blast!”
Jeremy and his parents, Kelly and Stephen, stayed in a hotel across the street from Disneyland. “It was pretty amazing – we had a suite,” said Stephen. He explained that the suite was so large a family could “set up house in there.” “We were given a room on the sixth floor with a view of Disneyland,” explained Kelly. “We watched the fireworks from our window.”
Make-A-Wish had scheduled a Character Dinner for Jeremy at Goofy’s Kitchen, a restaurant located inside the Disneyland Hotel. Chef Goofy and friends entertained with songs as Jeremy and family enjoyed a buffet-style meal. “All the characters knew who he was,” said Stephen. “When Aladdin came by the table he told Jeremy, ‘I heard that you hung out with Pooh.’” “They really did their research,” said Kelly, “the characters knew what he did throughout the day.” During dinner Jeremy was also visited by Daisy, Minnie, Goofy and Pooh Bear.
“Jeremy was given ‘front line’ privileges everywhere for every ride,” said Stephen. “The staff at Disneyland was really great – they treated him like royalty.” While Jeremy tired in the afternoon and took a nap, he was revived by the evening and was able to see the incredible Fantasmic water and light show.
Since Jeremy loves Pooh Bear he elected to ride on the ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’ attraction six times. “It was the ‘funnest,’” he said. Running a close second in Jeremy’s mind was the Grizzly River Run attraction at California Adventure. “The Wetter the Better,” is the River Run’s motto and Jeremy had a great time watching his father get wet. “Jeremy and I had ponchos for it, but Steve got soaked and Jeremy thought that was funniest thing,” said Kelly.
Jeremy also visited Knott’s Berry Farm with his parents and cousin Jessica. He was given twenty minutes with Snoopy, who even took Jeremy on some rides. “He had a great time at Knott’s,” said Stephen.
Medieval Times was also a treat for Jeremy where he got to eat with his hands and cheer on a valiant knight. “We were seated in the yellow section, which is Jeremy’s favorite color,” said Steve.
The entire vacation was a dream come true for Jeremy. “It was awesome,” Kelly mentioned. “He had such a good time.”
“All these people went tremendously out of their way to make it all perfect,” said Stephen. _________________ *~deb~*
My 13 yr old nephew, Blake, was diagnosed with cancer 14 months ago, after they found a tumor the size of a grapfruit attached to his heart and lungs. After a couple of surgeries, and some extensive chemo, he and the whole family were just a complete mess. You can't imagine all that someone goes through at a time like this. During one of his chemo treatments at the University Hospital in Iowa City, out of the blue a representative from Make A Wish stopped in.
I happened to be there just a few hours after that visit, and you could feel a change in attitudes almost immediately. Since my sister already travels to Disney about every year, Blake decided against my better judgement to ask for a trip to Hawaii. M-A-W jumped right in and made it all happen!
As my sister says, the anticipation of such a trip gave Blake something to look forward to, and some good memories to lay down over the worst time of his life. The whole family still gets choked up if you even mention Make A Wish.
The trip was layed out for them completely, and everything he wanted to do, from a luau, helicopter flight, and trip to a volcano was planned, payed for, and came out perfect!
Simply said: Make-A-Wish are good people!!! and I thank them for all they did. And as you can guess from the picture below - so does Blake
just the smile on a childs face is worth it all. _________________ -ToNY
Above The Firehouse Podcast www.abovethefirehouse.com
A Look Into All Things Disney
Blake is doing very well. He's in High School now, and he's grown back a new head of hair. He's has had plenty of checkups now and has been given a clean bill of health.
It looked grim for him there for a while. But apparently he's tougher than he looks. He remains pretty thin - despite the doctors requests for him to bulk up a bit. But if thats the only thing that they can find wrong with him then thats okay.
Again, the Make-A-Wish foundation just absolutely rocks!!
That is just AWESOME news that's he's doing so well! Sounds like he'll have a long, fantastic life! _________________ When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.
--Walt Disney
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to ask for a trip to Hawaii. M-A-W jumped right in and made it all happen!
yeah, you might not have noticed, he's the fully clothed one in the middle. 
