Eiche fam

Starting this month, I will be doing a 62-mile virtual challenge for Make-A-Wish. The goal is raise awareness and funds for Make-A-Wish, a nonprofit focused on granting wishes to children with critical illnesses. Namine herself was the recipient of one such wish, back in 2015.

There’s more to explain here, if you’ll stay with me a moment longer. Namine’s wish was not, unfortunately, to her satisfaction. While her wish was to take place at Disney World, that was not the end of it. More specifically, she had wished to have tea with the Disney princesses. We did receive tickets to Disney World, but she did not get a tea party.

The whole experience was a good lesson in managing expectations. Even in the best of circumstances, not everything goes according to plan. Namine not being able to have tea with the princesses was not the worst part of her Make-A-Wish. There were other instances on that trip of mismanagement, miscommunication, and a lot that added to the trip being soured for us. We do look back on it with some fondness, but on the whole, it was not a great experience.

With that in mind, you might question my support of Make-A-Wish now. Not only am I trying to bring awareness to what they do, but I’m encouraging people to give them money. Why?

The answer is simple: I still believe in what they’re trying to do. Yes, our experience was not great. We have given feedback indicating as much, and it is our hope that they used that to improve their process. More importantly, they still exist with the mission of giving hope to children who, in many cases, might not have much hope left. We know firsthand how important hope can be. Therefore, I believe that the Make-A-Wish cause is still a worthy one, and worth devoting both time and funding to.