June 2011

Hello, it’s me again.  I can’t believe it’s already mid June!  This year is passing by waaaay too fast! Before I know it, it will be the end of the year and I’ll be stuck with a lot of vacation time that I didn’t make time to use during the summer. Most people would think that was a good problem to have but I’m not a cold weather girl, I love the summer and every year I tell myself that I will make time to enjoy it.  Well, I’m working on it.

Since my last post, my granny celebrated her 80^th birthday, that was pretty special.  We all gathered for dinner at her favorite restaurant, Golden Corral (NOT my favorite place to eat!!).  I think she really enjoyed everyone getting together.  Sometimes it seems all of the grandkids only get together at Christmas so this was a nice surprise for her.  My grandpa is still doing okay with his Alzheimer’s.  He is progressing a little bit faster than we had hoped but….  I devote every Friday to going to hang out at my grandparent’s house.  We go to the doctor on Friday’s and sort pills and pay bills, and run errands and just spending time together.  I’ve actually really been enjoying it.  Growing up I didn’t really spend that much time with this set of grandparents so it’s been really nice.  I think I stress my granny out though. The first thing I do each time I walk in the door is start straightening their countertops and kitchen table.  That sounds petty but really it’s HUGE.  Growing up they didn’t have much so they feel that they need to keep EVERYTHING and they hate to throw anything away.  I have learned to bring extra bags with me and put whatever I think needs to go in the garbage into the bag and sneak it to my car so I can take it home to my garbage can.  I quickly found out that putting it in their garbage can wasn’t an option.  They were pulling out what I threw away once I left…lol!  For the life of me I can’t figure out how they can gather so much crap in just a matter of a few days.  I found papers the other day that were from 2009….they weren’t there when I left and I have no idea where they even come from.  I’m the type of person that likes everything in order…everything has its place and I don’t like clutter.  Their clutter probably stresses me as much as my trying to clean stresses them, lol!

The Make-A-Wish office moved to Cool Springs June 1^st.  It’s been a bit of an adjustment for a few of us who are used to the office being downtown but it’s really a nice new home for us.  We are hoping to have an open house soon, maybe you can stop by to see the office and see where all of the magic takes place.  J  

June 2^nd started a really busy time for me. First we had the office move, which I still have tons of stuff in boxes in my office, then we had 9 kids come to Nashville for their wish.  I don’t think we’ve ever had that many come at one time before.  We normally have between 15 – 25 kids come to Nashville for their wish throughout the year; but this was 9 all at once.  The first one arrived on June 2^nd and the last one left the evening of June 13^th.  All of the families were super nice and I’m so happy to have met them and to have been able to be a part of their wish. 

The first kiddo was Lauren, what an amazing young lady!!  Lauren’s wish was to meet Jared and Jensen from the TV show Supernatural.  Personally, I hadn’t even heard of Supernatural.  They had a convention here in town and I was really surprised at how many followers they have.  I think Lauren must be their #1 fan!  She knows everything that there is to know about the show.  She actually won $900.00 from the trivia game! 

Lauren was in a car accident several years ago.  She was in the car with her family, on their way to school, and while stopped at the traffic light a driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel struck them.  She sustained multiple injuries and is in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.  She can’t walk anymore, she is on a ventilator, she is unable to enjoy her favorite foods ~ actually any food for that matter, and the only part of her body that has any feeling is her face.  The cool thing about Lauren is she doesn’t let this stop her at all!!  She lives life to the fullest and she’s just an amazing young lady.  I was so impressed by her.  Lauren recently graduated in the top 15 of her high school class and she’s currently in college studying to be a dietitian.  It was truly an honor to be able to have met Lauren and her wonderful family.  Lauren’s wish turned out pretty darn awesome.  Jared and Jensen gave her a private meet and greet which lasted a good little while.  Jensen (I think…I get them confused) played his guitar and sang to Lauren which she loved!  Both of the guys told her how humbled they were that she picked meeting them from ANY wish that she could have chosen.  That has to be a pretty great feeling to know that someone could choose anything in the world for their wish, and they pick to meet you….that has to make you feel good inside. 

The other kiddos that came to town were here for the CMT Awards, the CMA Music Festival and one young lady came to meet Shania at her book signing.  Even though it felt like 120 degrees outside, everyone had a great time in Nashville.  The kids got to meet so many country music artists. Just to name a few, Carrie Underwood, Josh Turner (one of my personal favorite people), Lady A, Rascal Flatts, Chris Young, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry, Kellie Pickler, Zac Brown Band, and 2 of our local artist that actually helped me host the families while in town, Chris Winward and Matt Farris, (thanks guys!!!).

I must say, I’m reeeeally glad that the Cicadas are gone.  They sure were a nuisance! For those of you who aren’t familiar with a Cicada, Google it…they are big red eyed monsters, seriously.  They are attracted to noise and they love to get in your hair and car and Ewwww!!!  I don’t miss them one bit!! 

I may have mentioned this in my last posting but this is the Middle Tennessee Make-A-Wish Foundation’s 10^th year.  We are working hard to grant out 1000^th with this year.  This is an amazing milestone for us!  We are the youngest Make-A-Wish Chapter and we recently won an award for being an outstanding chapter.   For me, the really cool part of granting 1000 wishes is that I’ve had some part, big or little, in granting each of the 1000 wishes.  I love that I can say that!  We are planning a big celebration in October, and everyone will be invited. 

We really have a great team at our office and everyone works so well together.  Shelley and I work on wishes.  We always have around 100 wishes that we are working on at all times.  That sounds sad I know but we look at it as wow, that’s a lot of kids we are making happy.  With that being said, we do have several kiddos that are going through a really rough time right now so say an extra prayer for them tonight please. 

Thanks for stopping by to read my post. Hopefully I didn’t ramble too much.  Oh! I almost forgot, today is Father’s Day.  If your dad is still alive make sure you give him a BIG hug.  I often hear of people who haven’t spoken to their parents in months or years and I just can’t seem to understand that.  My dad passed away when I was 14, and I’d give anything in the world to have him here with me.   

    

Lauren with Jensen and Jared from the TV series Supernatural