—GARRETT STUART
Meera
In May of 2012, Alex, Nita, Meera, and Zane attended the annual “Wish Night” event at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in downtown Dallas, where Meera auctioned a few of her paintings that night at a high bid.
We have always believed in logic and that our lives are governed by it. We continued to believe that way until our daughter, Meera, defied all logic and reason on the road to her recovery.
No matter how illogical life may appear, never give up hope and faith because those are the only things that can keep us sane. Our journey taught us that even the most brilliant minds cannot explain why certain events happen. They just do. We learned that these events, no matter how severe or unfortunate, are purposeful, and their intent will always be revealed. Stay faithful and you will see how much hope is in this world, and it is awe-inspiring.
—MEERA’S PARENTS, ALEX AND NITA SALAMAH
Dakota
Henry and Sharon Hawkins pose with their sons, Riley and Quinn, holding a picture of their late son, Dakota, in front of their Cabot, Arkansas home.
Our family was honored that our firstborn son, Dakota, was considered for this publication. Dakota authored his own story as he lived out his faith through four years of fighting a rare leukemia with valor, selflessness, strength, and love. Through his fight, Dakota gave most of the gifts he would receive to other children fighting cancer to help brighten their day, and truly taught us that it is “more blessed to give than to receive.” Each day he carried a gentle smile no matter how he felt. Often we are reminded that his Make-A-Wish was as unique as he was: a well-thought-out gift straight from his heart to ours that we will always cherish. He truly valued others over self and loved deeply.
—DAKOTA’S PARENTS, HENRY AND SHARON HAWKINS
Tien
Tien poses for his seventh-grade school photo at The Berkeley School in Berkeley, CA.
Tien Leou-on and his family wish to thank the many people who helped Tien on his long medical journey. If we could, we would hug each one of you: dear friends, family, nurses, doctors, medical technicians, teachers, volunteers, clergy from so many different faiths, and complete strangers. We shared the story of Tien as a light and encouragement to all who travel a difficult medical road.
—TIEN’S MOM, LILLIAN HOWAN
Serena
Twenty-three-year-old Serena poses in her Sierra Vista, Arizona, home.
There is always a brighter side to every negative in life, which I learned through a struggle that no average fifteen-year-old could ever comprehend. My battle with cancer was nothing short of an emotional civil war, and the change into a positive attitude after such a blow was not easy. I knew I had to look to something to confide in during such a negative time, hence my love of music. Just a simple melody melted all my fears and anxiety by lighting the path I needed to use to move on. Positivity is a goal that anyone can reach with the right amount of courage contained deep within. This is why I shared my story. I view my Make-A-Wish experience as a cap of euphoria and positivity to end the madness that was my struggle with thyroid cancer and other medical mishaps. In the end, I leave with a brand new friend: a truly beautiful soul by the name of Darren Hayes; he was there from the beginning and had no idea. I may be the luckiest person in the world to have a friend like him. This has only marked the beginning of my life’s journey.
—SERENA BUTLER
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I NEVER IMAGINED HOW blessed and overwhelmed with gratitude I would feel after compiling this list of thank yous. The words on these next few pages only begin to describe how special and important each and every person mentioned is in my life. This army of people has marched loyally beside me, their words of encouragement, patience, support, and optimism motivating me till the last word was written. I am forever indebted to each and every one of you for the role you have played, and will continue to play, in my life.
This book would have remained a file on my computer if it wasn’t for the instant belief my literary agent, Jeff Herman, had in it. Thank you for your guidance, support, advice, commitment, and dedication to this project over the years. You never lost hope, which meant neither did I.
I am so thankful to my publisher, BenBella Books, for sharing the same belief in this book. To the staff at BenBella—Glenn Yeffeth, Debbie Harmsen, Cortney Strube, Monica Lowry, Sarah Dombrowsky, Jennifer Canzoneri, Lindsay Marshall, Adrienne Lang, Leigh Camp, Thuy Vo, and Kit Sweeney—you are a strong, united force that has offered nothing but endless support and guidance during my first-time experience of publishing a book. Thank you for sharing my belief that these truly inspirational stories needed to be told and for your vision and efforts in making my lifelong dream of writing and publishing a book come true.
A very special thank you to my editor, Marite Hart, for your creative brilliance. I felt the love and passion you had for this project the moment we started working together. Your diligent work and sincere vision helped polish and mold it to perfection.
Long before I had agents and publishers, I had editors at The Daily Courier, who believed in me just as much. Thank you to Karen Despain, Mark Duncan, Ben Hanson, and Tim Wiederaenders for taking a chance on a young girl fresh out of college. For four years, you showed me the ropes, becoming the invaluable foundation for my writing career. I will always be indebted to you for that.
Frank Shankwitz, this thank you is on behalf of me, the families in this book, and hundreds of thousands of families across the globe—thank you for your role in starting the Make-A-Wish-Foundation. Your vision more than thirty years ago of fulfilling the desires of children is where it all began, and because of you and a handful of others, thousands of lives have been changed. Thank you for your partnership on this project and for believing from day one that sharing the journeys of Wish families would spread hope and inspiration to all. I am proud to call you a friend.
My most heartfelt thank yous go to my sons, Andrew and Evan, because that is where you live—in my heart. I never knew a love so true and so deep until you were born. You are reminders to me every day of just how precious life is and that nothing too big or too small should ever be taken for granted. You two are my daily inspirations and my forever loves.
Bobby—my husband, my partner, my inspiration, my best friend—thank you for encouraging me to quit my job and work full-time to write this book. You believed in my ability to do it before I even did. You have experienced every moment right alongside me, and I couldn’t ask for a more loving or supportive husband.
Deepest gratitude to my parents, Joel and Debbie Bump. Your encouragement to become whatever I dreamed of becoming from the time I was a little girl is the reason I am here, able to write you this very special thank you in my first published book. Words cannot begin to describe how grateful I am for your endless love, support, and belief in me.
A big, warm thanks to my brother, Daniel—my childhood companion, my teenage rival, my adulthood best friend—for your unconditional love and support through life.
Deepest thank you to Onna, my sister (I left out the “in-law” part on purpose). You have given me endless love and support from the moment I decided to write this book. You have traveled every step alongside me, and it was your belief in me that kept me believing in myself.
A special thank you to my grandparents, Richard and Pat Twamley—Grandpa, for encouraging me to finish this book so that I can get to work on writing yours. Grandma, for being the first person to reveal the impact these stories can make by letting your tears fall. Your sincere praise and connection with this book confirmed my belief in its ability to touch people’s lives so deeply.
A special thank you to Mary (Grandma) Bump, retired music and English teacher for many years, for passing along your love of literature. Thank you for the hours you spent proofreading and the lifetime of knowledge behind all those little red marks. To my late grandpa, Wallace Bump, librarian for thirty-five years, for your love of books and passion for telling great stories. I
hope I made you proud.
A great big thank you to my Aunt Julie for the special role you have always played in my life. Thank you for your belief in this book from the moment the idea was born to write it, the interest you have always taken in it, and the hours you spent putting your twenty-five-year medical background to the test and editing this book.
Thank you to my Uncle Mike and Susanne for your endless love and always-uplifting words of encouragement.
A deep thank you to my husband’s family, one that I am blessed to be a part of. Each and every one of you welcomed me into your family with open arms so many years ago and have shown nothing but love and support ever since.
I have shared endless conversations with each of you about the progress of this book: Paul, Danny, Dan, Jenny, Debbi, Ronnie, Rebecca, Grandma Beth, Natalie and the late George, Uncle Danny and Terry, and the Rubins (you may as well be family!)—thank you for listening.
A very special thank you to my mother-in-law, Pam, with whom I share a love of books, for your invaluable opinions and insight during the process of writing this book. Thank you for showing me the love and support you have always shown your own children.
Cindy, Karen, and Magali, you are more than my sisters-in-law, you are my friends. Thank you for your listening ears and endless words of encouragement during every step of writing this book.
A sincere thank you to all of my cousins—Anthony, Carmen, Matthew, and Alison—for the endless love and support you have given from the very beginning and every step of the way.
Heartfelt thanks to my closest friends, the best in the world, for loving and supporting me during my seven-year journey of writing and publishing this book. I love you all dearly.
Emily, thank you for listening to countless hours of me talking about this book, feeling every discouraging moment as though it was your own, praising every word in it, and loving me like a sister every step of the way.
Heather, a lifetime childhood friend is one in a million. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your endless encouragement and support for this project. And to your parents, Bill and Suzie, my second parents growing up, for all of your love and belief in me.
Hilary, my “Partner in Believing,” you have always been here for me, and I thank you for being a big part of my transition from timid newspaper reporter to someone who believed in herself enough to write this book. Yours is next!
Kristin and Brooke, years and oceans have separated us, but no matter how much time passes, we are always connected. Your friendships, nearly twenty years old, are significant parts of who I am, and I thank you for your willingness to listen to hours of my book-writing process as part of our “catching up.”
Kerri, Kelly, and Shari, the hours upon hours each of you have spent sitting across restaurant tables from me on “girls’ night outs,” listening as I talked about this book, asking questions, caring deeply, are priceless gifts you didn’t even know you were giving.
Sara, you are proof that we are never too old to make friends who will last a lifetime. Thank you for providing the same support and belief in me as those who I have known my entire life.
To Arika, Claire, and Irina—new friendships are the start of forever friendships. Thank you for the support and enthusiasm you have shown for this book.
A big thank you to Ashley, the best babysitter in the world, for your reliability and love of my boys. You made it possible in times of desperation to continue writing this book. And to Zahra Asmaytar, Angel, and your entire family, thank you for the love and exceptional care you gave to my boys for more than a year.
Since this book captures and embraces the strength, innocence, honesty, and resilience of children, I want to thank all the children in my family—Andrew, Evan, Caleb, Aubrey, Jackson, Carter, Candace, Trevor, Nathan, Audrey, Alyssa, and Jessica—for all the joy, happiness, laughter, and hope you bring to my life. You each live inside my heart.
To the families featured in this book, there aren’t enough words to thank you for the hard work and dedication it took on your part to be able to share your stories with the world. You are some of the strongest people I know, with the outlooks on life I believe we should all strive for, and your stories continue to fill me with hope and inspiration, as I’m sure they will to all who read this book. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your stories with me, and in turn, the world.
Thank you so very much to the following staff members (current and former) from various Make-A-Wish chapters across the country—Robin Dunn, Jennifer Gonzales, Patricia Wilson, Elaine Kauffman, Evonne Williams, Jennifer Shuman, Berta James, Billie Milner, Julie Baron, Cheryl Unger, Suzanne Sutter, Mary Olinger, Chriss Sharer, Angela Geiss, Mark Alberts, Spring Tart, and John Wolff. If it wasn’t for your vision, your dedication, and your help, this book would not exist. I appreciate you all for the work you do and for your genuine efforts and early belief in this book.
There are never too many ways to thank those who have helped us become the people we are today, and I thank each of you for the role you have played in my life; you will remain with me and part of me forever.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RACHELLE SPARKS was an award-winning journalist for The Daily Courier in Prescott, Arizona, where she wrote stories about the unforgettable Wish families who became her inspiration for writing Once Upon A Wish. She then became a freelance writer for numerous publications, including Arizona Highways Magazine and the Phoenix and San Francisco editions of 944 Magazine, while venturing the country to interview and capture the stories of the families featured in this book. She lives with her husband, Bobby, and their two sons, Andrew and Evan, in San Diego. This is her first book.
* From the title song on the album Spin, copyright © 2002. Lyrics, by Darren Hayes and Walter Afanasieffu, used by permission.
* From the song “Good Enough” on the album Spin, copyright © 2002. Lyrics, by Darren Hayes and Walter Afanasieffu, used by permission.
* From the song “On the Verge of Something Wonderful” on the album This Delicate Thing We’ve Made, copyright © 2007. Lyrics, by Darren Hayes and Robert Conley, used by permission.
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