My little heroes… October 11, 2008

I have an amazing job. I work with little people. The most life changing, beautiful, amazing little kids I have ever known. But these kids are different than most of the little kids we all know and love. These little guys battle life battleling conditions. There childhood is disrupted by doctors, hospital stays, needles, knowledge of a bigger vocabulary than I have yet to master, and yet they remain positive, happy, with a constant smile, and manage to touch the lives of everyone around them. I wanted to share a couple of their stories so that they can continue to be that example to others.

T with his superhero

This is T. When I met him he was in the hospital and was just waking up from a nap. I don’t think he was too excited to see us at first, he may have thought we were doctors or something. That quickly changed when we gave him lots of gifts. I had heard from him mom that his favorite super hero was Spiderman and just before we got there I had found a Spiderman flashlight. He loved it, and I almost think his favorite thing to do with it was to flash it straight into his dad’s eyes. He told me thanks, and that was almost all he said that first meeting. We sent him to Universal Studios, Florida so he could personally meet his favorite hero and from what I understand, it was a small miracle that they even met. T hadn’t been doing very well in the days leading up to his trip. His parents worried that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to take him on this trip, he had severe headaches and was getting sick on a pretty regular basis. After I’m sure a lot of prayer they felt they really needed to take him on this trip. T threw up once at the airport but once he was on the plane it was a full week that his parents watched him be and act just like all the other kids in the park. It must have been amazing. Unfortunately, T passed away a few weeks after his wish. I went to his funeral and was deeply touched by the love I felt from his family. Everyone knew who Brad and I was, we didn’t introduce ourselves to anyone. Everyone just seemed to know. His mom told us we should watch his video, so Brad and I watched. At the very beginning there was T in his big red wagon. His aunt asked, “Why do you want to be Spiderman?” And he responded, “Because I said so.” His aunt being ever persistent asked, “But why?” And then T in his ever cute little man voice said, “Because Spiderman saves people.” T taught me that I should aspire do to be someone who can help others.

I was going to share other stories, but to be fair, I think I’ll save that for another day. But I do want to share my favorite wish pictures. If you’d like to know about a specific wish kid, let me know. I’m always happy to share the power of a wish with anyone.

A kiss from a favorite princess

I wish to be a pirate to find far off lands

I wish to be a princess

I want to go on a vacation with my family

She picked this picture because she thought it was funny that she was wearing her dads shoes. 🙂

I guess the one thing I’ve learned in life in this last year is that life is meant to be lived! We cannot constantly live our lives in state of what if or I wish I had. Otherwise we will live our lives with a lot of empty yesterdays, and I don’t want to live my life like that. So today, go out and do something you’ve been to afraid to do, ask that person out, take a risk with your job, do what you’ve always wanted to do. Because when you do, that’s when memories are made and that’s when life is lived!

Love you all!

Why I think Watermelon could change the world… October 3, 2008

Have you ever sat down on a late summer day to a delicious bowl of watermelon? Could you smell it’s red sweetness over the slight heat of the day? Have you participated in a seed spitting or watermelon eating contest? Have you ever been able to take seriously the person next to you after such a contest as watermelon hangs awkwardly from their nose?

I’m telling you, if the world leaders of today were forced to decide foreign policy over a watermelon eating contest, the world would be a different place.

I think it could be a lot happier, well unless of course your allergic to watermelon, then maybe you shouldn’t participate in such contests.

Look, even grown men can appreciate a really good slice of watermelon!

But on a more serious note, I’m a fan of the round watermelon. Something about it’s ability to overtake the entire refrigerator and leave no room for anything else kind of makes me giggle. Well the Japanese have found away to take this simple pleasure of mine and make it more practical for the rest of the world. Yes, I’m talking of the square watermelon. Can you imagine? I couldn’t so just to illustrate this for you I found a picture:

There it is. Apparently it fits perfectly in the refrigerator and costs an affordable $82. I’m almost positive we’ll be seeing this on the U.S. market next summer. I personally will continue to be the ever penny pinching starving student and will stick with the boring, ever dominating, round watermelon!

And why might you ask am I ranting and raving about the sweetness of the watermelon? It’s far better than writing a paper on Stalin’s Five Year Plan!

I’m a blogger… October 2, 2008

I broke down today and well, I’m a blogger.

Go figure…