As many of you know, I have a son with significant disabilities. Last week we went on a Make A Wish trip to Disney World in Florida. Jack's wish was to meet Buzz Lightyear. We got three days at Disney, two at Universal, and one at Sea World. Also, we stayed at Give Kids The World, which is a resort in Kissimmee that caters to Make A Wish families.

First of all, Make A Wish is amazing. They took care of everything we could possibly need, including transportation, hotels, meals, a vehicle, and tickets to the parks. All of the parks treated us wonderfully, making sure that we got everything we needed and that we were happy. The characters were very attentive to Jack and our other kids, as were all of the staff. I can honestly say that it was one of the greatest weeks of my life, if not the best.

Give Kids The World was amazing too. It is run by a small staff and 1,500 volunteers. People come from all over the world to volunteer. When we were there, a local Parrotheads group threw a luau for all of the kids, and a group of high school kids came from Louisiana to run a "Halloween" event. The kids also served as volunteers in the dinner hall, and the high school has raised $500,000 dollars for GKTW. There were dozens of other families there, all of which had kids with disabilities or serious illnesses. As you can imagine, it was a very emotional experience.

One of the highlights of the trip happened on the last day. We had some time to kill before our flight, so we shot over to Universal for a few hours. While we were there, I took the kids to the Hard Rock to show them some Beatles memorabilia. When the hostess saw our Make A Wish pins, she asked us to wait for a few minutes. Soon a man came down and asked if he could take us on a special tour, then put us into an elevator to the VIP room. He said that under normal circumstances, if he went into the room he would be fired. The VIP room was loaded with stuff from the Beatles time in Hamburg, Jimmy Reed's guitar, Johnny Cash's guitar, and other amazing stuff. Next, he took us to the Beatles room, which he claimed has the world's largest collection of Beatles memorabilia. I can't even begin to describe it all. Next he took us into the room where bands hang out before and after shows at the Hard Rock Live stage. He let us stand around John Lennon's personal couch, in front of JL's white linen suit and take pictures. The room also had a lot of John Lennon's artwork, and other images that were donated by Yoko Ono.

Finally, he took us to the Hard Rock Live stage and let us all go onstage for pics. It was an amazingly gracious and generous thing for the Hard Rock people to do. It wasn't part of our Wish, and only happened through their generosity. Here are some pics from that day.

Excellent! Good news is so rare!

I will keep your family in my thoughts and prayers.

Great story Bill! Thanks for sharing. Do you have a photo of Jack with Buzz Lightyear?

Twenty years ago, I worked at an Orlando resort where a lady named Margot Glazer was working in the gift shop. It was one of those strange situations where you learn something amazing you never knew about sombody you've known for a while--somebody casually mentioned to me one day that Margot was a Holocaust survivor and that her twin brother, Henri Landwirth was the founder of Give Kids The World. Wow.

What's even more amazing is learning, as I google both of them over coffee this morning, that Margot and Henri are both still alive and well at the aage of 85. Margot even has a Facebook page.

I'm glad you had a good time in Orlando, but I'm not surprised--Give Kids The World is an amazing organization.

Here are a couple:

Jack hugging Buzz



And with Buzz

Wow. Just fantastic stuff. Brought tears to my eyes.

Like I said in the WANderground thread, awesome.

+1

Thanks for sharing these photos with us, Bill.

The look on Jack's face is all you need to know. What a guy. And what a great trip!

Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm so glad you guys had a great time. Just touching.

Judging by the size of that suit, Smiff would dwarf John Lennon.

I'm 6'4", so I suspect you're right.

I'm 6'4'' too.

Kind of glad I never met Lennon in person. I grew up thinking he was seven feet tall.

I bet he would have seemed 7 feet tall, even if he wasn't. Especially if you got to see him play.

That's what it's all about. I hope Jack and all of you had the time of your lives! This whole story brought me great joy!

Great story, great pictures.
I hope God continues to bless you and your beautiful family.

That's such a great story. Thanks for sharing it, and the photos as well. Those photos of your son with Buzz Lightyear speak volumes. I know it was a special time for all of you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go dry my eyes.

I appreciate all the nice comments from you all. The generosity, thoughtfulness, and compassion I saw from so many people there really had a huge impact on me. I still can't get over that group of high school kids who raised money and then took a bus to GKTW to volunteer. One of nicest things that happened all week was when an elderly gentleman walked up to my wife and said "I just want to tell you how wonderful you are. No one ever notices how hard it is for the parents of disabled kids." She just started bawling there at the table.

As Kid Bailey said, we truly are blessed. At one point I was in the men's room and a man from NY came in and we started chatting. It was his first trip back to Orlando in four years. His previous trip was planned hastily because his mom was dying and she wanted to visit Disney with her grandchildren before she died. He was on this Make A Wish trip because his son has leukemia. He told me he would give anything not to have to be on the trip and then started crying. His dad, who was in his sixties, came in to see what the hold up was and joined the conversation. He told me about his previous trip right before his wife died, and that he wouldn't typically have been allowed on this one because Make A Wish is just for immediate family. But he was allowed to come because his grandson made it his official wish to see Disney with his grandfather because he is such an important part of his life. Then gramps started crying too. That was the only time something like that happened to me, but I'm sure it happens all the time there. I don't think I'd be tough enough to work there.

I just got home from work but I also want to say what a wonderful story to come home too. I'm thrilled that Disney took such good care of your wonderful family.

Awesome stuff, Bill. We were at Disney and Universal in February, and the people there were almost universally wonderful.

Much mojo sent your way...

+100

Aw man, I started tearing up reading this. What a wonderful father you are.