Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery
“Every End Is A New Beginning”
~Proverb
I will admit that this post is a difficult one to write. Wrapping up my Make-A-Wish Hope Tour Story is not easy to do. Like I quoted in my last day video, “All things must come to an end.”
I am discovering more each day that the mission of the Hope Tour has not ended, but instead, it has just begun. Meeting people with similar hearts for helping children with cancer has already given me the opportunity to connect people together for the common good of the kids. For example, I met Trevor Schaefer of Trevor’s Trek Foundation in Boise. Today, he is in Washington D. C. to meet with representatives about spectacular work he is doing to pass legislation that will help us learn about cancer clusters in the U.S.
It takes just a moment to sign the petitions:
Trevor’s Law:
While you are signing petitions for our children:
The Truth 365:
http://thetruth365.org/petition/
It’s true. The mission of the Hope Tour has only begun.
Make-A-Wish planned a very fun day for our final day in Los Angeles. Mom and I went to Universal Studios, with front of the line passes! Having concentrated on my health, my book, my studies, scholarship and college applications, and speaking/advocacy work the past four years, this was an entirely new concept to us! Oh my gosh– we laughed and laughed and loved our time there! Dracula tried his best to scare me in a gift shop. Little did he know that I have already faced the Real Monster! I think he was a bit disappointed he was not able to rattle my cage. Hee hee, I think I rattled his instead!
Dracula was hungry!
Finally Met SpongeBob!!!
One of the things we did that we have never done before is have a caricature drawn. Mom enjoyed watching the artwork form, as I posed with my big Make-A-Wish button. “Yes, please include my button in the drawing!”
Caricature at Universal Studios
During our time at Universal, Mom took her usual “Jumping Photos.”
Hope Tour at Universal Studios
Hope Tour at Universal Studios
Hope Tour at Universal Studios
Hope Tour Video Day 27 Part II (too funny!)
The final day of the Hope Tour arrived on July 14th—28 days after we left home. I had so many emotions inside me that day. I was sad. I was happy. I felt like this was what I am supposed to be doing, and it felt odd to have it end. I agonized over the location of my last Hope Tour Video, and then it came to me… right off the freeway on the way home… Cottage Hospital!
Final Hope Tour Video Day 28
I didn’t know then what I since have learned. All of the people I met, and places I went, are a part of me now. No one, and no thing, can ever take that away from me. I am grateful. I am truly, truly grateful. Now, I can take all that I have been given in my wish and transform it into help for the children I love so much.
Make-A-Wish made my wish much, much more than I ever wished or dreamed. May all that Make-A-Wish has given me grow and transform into the ultimate wish come true—saving children’s lives.
Location of my “Last Chemo Day at Cottage Hospital” photo
Thank you to Make-A-Wish!
Melinda Marchiano 
Comments on: "Make-A-Wish, May my Wish Bloom and Grow" (1)
[…] May my Wish Bloom and Grow Posted on September 10, 2012 by dadvocate2011 Make-A-Wish, May my Wish Bloom and Grow. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like […]