Our Family Was Flying on a Make-a-Wish Trip for My Ill Son – Halfway Through the Flight, the Pilot Said, ‘Mike, There’s One Thing About This Trip That You and Your Parents Know Nothing About’
I remember watching the doctor’s pen roll toward the edge of his desk.
It fell.
No one picked it up.
After that, our life became appointment cards, plastic wristbands, and food Mike was too nauseated to eat.
His cleats remained beside the back door. Mud dried in the grooves.
I could not bring myself to clean them.
His cleats remained beside the back door.
At the hospital, nurses learned which arm he preferred for blood draws.
Stella packed overnight bags without checking a list.
I became good at sleeping upright and lying to relatives on the phone.
“He’s having a decent day.”
“Treatment went fine.”
“We’re taking it one week at a time.”
“Treatment went fine.”
Mike heard everything.
He also knew when we were pretending.
One afternoon, during another infusion, a Make-A-Wish volunteer named Claire sat beside his bed. She wore green sneakers and carried a folder covered with stars.
“If you could go anywhere,” she asked my son, “where would you go?”
Mike did not hesitate.
“Disneyland!”
He also knew when we were pretending.
“Why Disneyland?”👉 Read the Full Story
He glanced at the clear medication dripping into his arm.
“Because nobody is allowed to be sick there. Only happy.”
Claire’s smile held.
Mine did not.
“Why Disneyland?”
***
A month later, she called.
The trip was approved.
We did not tell Mike until the tickets arrived because hope had become something Stella and I handled carefully. We had seen plans disappear after one bad scan.
When we finally showed him, he read the destination twice.
Then he whispered, “All three of us?”
The trip was approved.
“All three,” Stella said.
He hugged the tickets to his chest.
That was how we reached seat 12A.
***
Mike had the window. Stella sat in the middle. I took the aisle and pretended not to notice how often she checked his color.
He hugged the tickets to his chest.
