a Wish-full journey

When you wish upon a star...

Do you remember when we were little and how we would love to make wishes on stars and dandelion seeds? The anticipation of possibilities with what we could wish for. The hope that it would come true and the shear excitement when it actually did come true!

When Kaleb was first diagnosed and we were still in the induction stage of treatment, we were asked if Kaleb would get to have a wish from the Make-a-Wish Foundation by some friends. It threw us for a bit and it had not been something our medical team had mentioned to us. We shoved it to the back burner behind everything else going on. I mean Kaleb was going to survive this ... right?

Being told your child qualifies to make a WISH is definitely a scary thing at first. We were still in denial to some degree on how sick Kaleb was. We knew he was sick but he was not stuck in the hospital hooked up to machines... he was at home with us. Panic was the first emotion I remembered feeling and then pure fear, didn't that mean Kaleb was going to die? I mean, if he was able to make a wish? I thought wishes were only given to kids who were not going to make it. If I said yes to Kaleb getting to make a wish did that mean I was sealing his fate and telling him I did not think he could fight this beast called cancer that was raging war throughout his body? After many talks with some family and a trusted friend, we took the next step to find out more information and talked to our medical team. They all agreed that yes indeed Kaleb did qualify to make a WISH and NO it did not mean that they were worried that he would not beat the cancer. You see WISHES are there to help kids be kids. When they have such life altering experiences a WISH helps them to look forward to the future. It helps them to feel like a kid again and to dream of a future outside of their medical life. They get a chance to forget about all the stuff that no kid should have to deal with and just be them. Not "the kid who has _____" There is a huge misconception that Wishes are only granted to kids who will not survive. In reality the large majority of kids who have wishes granted not only survive but thrive into adulthood.

Kaleb and I had so many long talks about what a WISH might look like during his treatments. Kaleb was very clear that he did not want to "waste" such a gift so he thought long about what he might WISH for. On the hard days we would talk about what he might want to wish for. Some of the ideas were short lived like the "life time supply of Subway" or "an army tank to drive around town" lol could you imagine?? Eventually Kaleb came to the thought that travel would be his WISH. We had conversations with everyone we saw at the hospital, Amelia's friends from school through FaceTime and Kaleb's friends, finding out where they would want to go in the world and why. If somewhere peaked Kaleb's interest we would write it down and then research it later when we were at the hotel after treatments while we were down in London, to see if that would be a place Kaleb would like to travel to. Eventually Kaleb narrowed down the list to New Zealand. There were so many interesting places/things he wanted to explore and experience there.

It would be a trip that would check off bucket list experiences Kaleb had and he knew that it would be a trip that we wouldn't be able to afford as a family of 5 easily.

After all of our paperwork was filled out and Kaleb was officially part of the WISH family, we found out that sadly due to the pandemic (and all that comes with travel in these unknown times) the foundation could no longer grant wishes to travel outside of the province. So Kaleb went back to the drawing board. Thankfully this time we had the help from Bailey (Kaleb's wish rep) over zoom. With the help of Bailey, Kaleb came up with 5 new possibilities and was told to take some time, think on them and we would meet up on zoom again to discuss it more. Eventually we were able to narrow it down to 2 WISHES. A place to hangout with friends or a recording studio setup to be creative with music. After many long discussions weighing the pros and cons between the 2 possible wishes, Kaleb decided that the studio set up would be longer lasting and that since music plays such a huge role in his life it would be beneficial for him as he would be able to take it with him when he leaves home with in the next year or two for school. (You cannot take a bunkie to post-secondary school!)

Kaleb made his official WISH and we waited... Kaleb was told his WISH was approved and we had meetings set up over zoom to see what he would like to see in his setup. It was at this time that Kaleb learnt his WISH was going to be sponsored by a couple who run a benefit called Rock-The-Wish. The Cortinovis family have personal experience with the WISH foundation 7 years ago when their daughter was battling cancer. They saw first hand and experienced how much of a difference Make-A-Wish Foundation make to their Wish families and how dedicated their volunteers are at making every wish special. After meeting them over zoom we felt even more reassured about the process of Kaleb making a wish and that they were so excited to help Kaleb figure out what exactly he would need/want for his recording setup. They also invited Kaleb to go to the actual benefit event as it was a rock concert that was based off the music Kaleb loves.

Rock-the-Wish partnered with SOLO Guitars (based out of Toronto) and Kaleb was given the opportunity to help design a custom electric guitar that would be raffled at the event to raise funds for his wish. Kaleb agreed to meet with them and talk about the process as he was a little unsure of what his role would be as he had only just started to learn how to play guitar a few months prior to the meeting. At the meeting we met the team at Solo Guitars where they explained how they make custom guitars and what sort of things they could do with guitar customizations. They explained that they had gotten their hands on some reclaimed Hemlock from the Toronto Harbour that was over a hundred years old. This was what the body of the guitar would be made of. Kaleb talked about what made him decide on his wish, his love of music and how much a role it has played in his life. When he mentioned what type of music he loved and some of the bands, everyone got excited and creative juices started to flow. They were not expecting someone Kaleb's age, would love so many of the classic rock bands. They also loved that he would listen to them when he was undergoing treatments. Rocking out to music to distract him from what was going on in his surroundings. Kaleb talked about how he has a love of Classic Pontiac Firebirds and wondered if that could be incorporated into the design as well. Vatche (the luthier) was so excited about what Kaleb was talking about that he started sketching and by the end of the meeting everyone was excited to see the drawings. Kaleb was told that everything would need to be finalized by August so that they would have time to get it made in time for the Auction at the Rock-the-Wish benefit.

In July we got word from Make-A-Wish the mock up designs for the guitar were ready for Kaleb to review and change anything if need be. The Guitar shape incorporates the Firebird logo and a Gibson SG (the guitar choice of Angus Young from AC/DC). Kaleb loved how Vatche had raised the firebird logo! It was amazing to see everything in a drawing from all different angles. Kaleb approved the design and asked for a quote to be added to the neck of the guitar. The quote is from a song that Kaleb listened to at almost every treatment he received. " Life could be a dream, If only all my precious plans would come true... Life could be a dream".

In late July, it was decided that it would be best to add another room into the house. This room would become the official music room. Where Kaleb's new studio equipment could be set up and where we could store/display all of our instruments we have in the house. Materials were picked up the first week of August and construction started on 6th. Uncle Andy agreed to help us build the room and also teach Kaleb and Matt along the way. As a family we all pitched-in, in some form or another. Amelia's college stuff was being stored in the area where the new room was going to be going and, not to mention everything else that was normally in that area! Libby helped to clear the space where the walls were going to be and made sure the dog did not go downstairs when materials were being brought in or while construction was happening. Amelia helped to bring in and hang some of the drywall. Kaleb and Matt helped with multiple parts of the construction and I worked on design and painting. During the construction a few items for Kaleb's wish started to arrive and we had to find ways to sneak them into the house with out him finding out and also hide them around house with out him finding them by accident. Once the walls were ready for painting Kaleb was banned from the inside of the music room until his reveal day. Little did he know that his wish was going to be ready before school started! In 3 short weeks the room was completed and Kaleb's wish was ready to be delivered.