The thing about dreams--
We try to keep them in check. We play around with the possibility. But we typically find ourselves assuming that our "imagine if" dreams will only reside in our imaginations.
And then today happened.
That particular day, they happened to ride in the elevator with a teenage girl and her boyfriend. The girl was at the hospital getting Remicade as well.
**I can ride in 1,000 elevators with strangers and never, ever make a friend. My husband cannot.
Hubby, Prince and the couple started chatting.
Turns out they live(d) and go to school an hour in the opposite direction.
My point, that day, they drove an hour from the east and my hubby and Prince drove 3 hours from the west. The 4 of them ended up on an elevator together, began to chat, and in the end they discovered this...
The boy has a sister who happens to live in the town we live in.
Hubby: "Oh really! What's her name?"
Boy: "Sarah....Do you know her?"
Well, yeah, we know her.
In fact, while my hubby was in the elevator with her little brother, I was probably with her.
Fast forward a few months,
The Prince and the girl from the elevator attend the same Crohn's camp.
Fast forward a few more months,
We get a call from an organization called The Dream Factory.
My Prince has been nominated to receive a dream from the Dream Factory.
How?
Why?
Well, the sweet girl he met on the elevator shares a disease with my Prince and she gets it. She understands what living with this disease means. The Dream Factory is a dream granting organization for children with chronic medical conditions. She was granted a dream and in turn sent the Dream Factory our way. Talk about paying it forward.
We were stunned.
As part of the process, my Prince was asked to provide a description of his dream. If he could do anything, go anywhere, see anyone...what, where, who would it be?
It's not easy to have this conversation with a child. At least it isn't easy for us and our child.
He had some ideas but he was uncertain how to organize his thoughts.
He wanted to included airplane travel, visiting people we know, and some sort of professional ball game.
For hubby and me, it became really important that this "Dream Factory dream" be a true dream for the Prince. Something he would love! We talked about people we know that live in different parts of the country. We talked about a different variety of professional games the Prince might want to see. And then we did some research - with the Prince - to put all of those pieces together.
At the end of the day, he had a dream. And it fits his personality and his interests in the most perfect way.
My Prince loves people. He loves conversations and history and friendships. He has a capacity for detail and memory that blow me away.
We have forever friends that live in North Carolina. Our kids have known each other forever. We've spent countless days together -- many of which were holidays and vacation time.
My Prince really wants to spend time with this family.
On the sports front, he would love to see the New Orleans Saints play. Drew Brees is one of his favorites. He also really likes the Carolina Panthers QB, Cam Newton.
The Saints and the Panthers happen to be meeting up in North Carolina this month.
Suddenly, a dream was born.
He told the Dream Factory his dream.
And then he went back to real life. He certainly thought about his dream. He asked about the possibility of it actually happening. But he didn't focus every fiber of his being on the dream. He just lived.
Until today...
The Dream Factory delivered.
These two are volunteers with the Dream Factory. Before today, they were strangers to us. Yet, for many weeks they have worked and worked to help make my Prince's dream a reality.
We told the Prince some people wanted to come meet him today, to talk about his dream.
He was expecting an interview.
They were bringing tickets!
In addition, our friends from North Carolina made a video. In the video they talked about fun memories our families have made together and then the North Carolina kids jumped off the couch (in the video) and yelled...YOU'RE COMING TO NORTH CAROLINA!!
The grin from my Prince...
He kept it small.
He kept it under wraps.
He maintained his cool factor.
But that grin was real. And it spoke volumes.
And my heart was so very full.
My Prince has walked a journey I can only watch. Sure, we walk with him. But we mostly watch.
He's had more than his fair share of difficult days.
He's healthy today. And we feel blessed.
But it hasn't been easy for him.
Today, I watched as he was the center of attention for something so very fun.
He has some experience being the center of attention...all eyes are on him when he's sick and needs to be in the hospital, or when he is getting IV medication to keep his Crohn's in remission.
But today --
He was the center of attention as we celebrated! We laughed and ate pizza and ice-cream. We talked about football and baseball and dreams.
While the official "Dream Factory Dream" is scheduled to begin in a few weeks,
Today was the kind of day dreams are made of.
1 comment:
Oh my gosh. This absolutely made me bawl and gave me goosebumps all over. This is wonderful!
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