Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery
“No vision and you perish; No Ideal, and you’re lost; Your heart must ever cherish some faith at any cost. Some hope, some dream to cling to, some rainbow in the sky, some melody to sing to, some service that is high.”
Harriet Du Autermont
Herbert the HopeMobile has arrived back in Nipomo after traveling 4, 260 miles around the Western United States. So much was “packed” into the 28 days of my Make-A-Wish Children’s Hospitals Hope Tour that it was impossible to share it along the way. It looks like I left off in Seattle, so I will rewind!
I want to begin with thanking Make-A-Wish AK/WA and Meredith…
Meredith at Make-A-Wish Alaska/Washington
How can I ever thank Meredith and everyone at the MAW AK/WA office? My week in Seattle was filled with opportunities to bring awareness for childhood cancer and HOPE for kids who are fighting. It means the world to me that Make-A-Wish understood my wish; they did everything and more to make it come true! After a tour of the Seattle office, Meredith surprised me!!!
Make-A-Wish AK/WA surprises Melinda!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKw21slTyzQ&feature=youtu.be
Meredith and Make-A-Wish kept surprising me all week long!
Make-A-Wish AK/WA Surprise
The surprises included visits with Dr. Sangeeta Hingorani and Dr. Jean Sanders.
With Dr. Jean Sanders
Dr. Jean Sanders
I have a hard time finding the words to explain what it meant to me to be able to speak with Dr. Sanders. It was just hours before her retirement party, but she made time to speak with me, “the Make-A-Wish girl who wants to be a doctor like you!” I feel exactly the same about my time with Dr. Hingorani. I feel fortunate, and I feel blessed, to have spent time with each of them. I wish I could just take one deeeeeeeeeeeep breath and inhale all of their wisdom and knowledge so I could use it to slay the childhood cancer monster. Believe me, I tried! In all sincerity, my time with them made me even more determined about my future. My time with them inspires me to work hard. Again, without the hard work of Meredith, and Make-A-Wish, this would not have happened!
It’s true. I am not going to lie. The Hope Tour set out to bring hope to others, but everywhere we went, we found hope.
I look forward to sharing more about the Hope Tour…
Dr. Hingorani
Thank you to Sheraton in Bellevue, WA, and to Hyatt at Olive & 8th for supporting Make-A-Wish!
Making New Friends at the Sheraton in Bellvue, WA
Melinda Marchiano 
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