Evan's Story, Chapter 18, Make a wish

Make-A-Wish

The desire of the righteous is only good.

Proverbs 11-23

   When Evan was eleven, we were visited by two Wish Granters, representatives from the Make-A-Wish foundation. Make-A-Wish grants wishes to children that have life threatening or degenerative diseases. Evan was well qualified. A very common wish granted is an all expense trip to Disneyworld, in Orlando, Florida. I have a brother and sister-in-law living near Orlando, so Cindy and I wanted to go there.

   Not so fast. When the Wish Granters interviewed Evan, they concluded a trip to Florida was not Evan’s wish. Wish denied. That is the policy of Make-A-Wish. Later, I would fully support this policy.

   During summer school, Evan wrote an essay on “My Dream Vacation.” He wrote that he would like to go to New York City and take a boat to see the statue of Liberty. After reading this, Cindy decided it was time to call Make-A-wish back.

   Two marvelous Wish Granters were sent to our home. They interviewed Evan. They discussed New York City and what else he could do there. Evan told them he liked to watch Al Roker’s weather forecast everyday on the Today Show. Somewhere along the line, the Empire State Building was mentioned. They promised Evan they would see what they could do. The next step in the process was for our local Make-A-Wish chapter to contact the Make-A-Wish Chapter in New York City. Coincidentally, an Executive Producer of the Today Show was active in the Make-A-Wish chapter of New York City. The response was “That’s a great idea. We’ll let him help Al Roker with the weather during the Today Show.”

   Like I’ve said before, that kid will do anything to be on television. The trip to New York City was scheduled for April, 2000, during the spring break for Katie and Rachel. This was less than three months before Evan’s spinal surgery. The trip proved to be a bright spot in an otherwise gut wrenching year. Besides Evan, Cindy and I, April, Katie, and Rachel were on the trip. David was married with children and John was on a mission for our church. Sorry guys.

   KSBY, the NBC affiliate in San Luis Obispo, was informed of Evan’s Wish. So were the local papers. Everyone was excited for him. By the way, did I mention Evan also appeared in the newspaper? Evan was featured preparing a poster to greet his friends at North Oceano School.

   On Monday of the Wish week, a limousine picked us up at our house. The limo driver drove us to the Santa Barbara Airport. A short flight to Los Angeles connected us to a long flight to New York. During the flight a pretty stewardess gave Evan an American Airlines pin. Evan would wear this pin on the Today show. A limo driver was waiting for us at Kennedy International to take us to our hotel in Manhattan. Our adventures that day weren’t over yet. Cindy, April, and Rachel still needed to get lost on the streets of New York City, at night, but that’s another story.

   On Tuesday, we followed instructions to go to the Empire State Building lobby. We introduced ourselves to a pleasant woman at the visitor information desk. She called for our very own tour guide. This friendly young man led us past hordes of visitors to our private elevator. We had never been in such a tall building before. In no time at all, we were on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Evan was too short to see over the wall, but light enough that I could lift him high enough to see the view. Even on a partly cloudy day, the view is incredible. Evan was surprised how small the Statue of Liberty appeared, but we explained it was far away.

   After the Empire State Building, we walked up Manhattan to Central Park. We tried to have lunch at Tavern on the Greens, but were told we’d have to wait an hour. This was the one and only time in New York City where we were treated rudely. Everyone else we encountered in New York was quite friendly. The stereotype of rude New Yorkers was proving false. Maybe Evan just brings out the best in people.

   On Wednesday, a limo driver picked us at our hotel and drove us to Rockefeller Center. We eventually found our way to the Today Show studio. Katie Couric, Anne Coury, and Al Roker greeted Evan and chatted with us. We chatted most with Al Roker in the “Green Room.” Funny, the “Green Room” wasn’t green. With cameras rolling, it was time for Evan to help with the weather. During the Today Show, Al Roker would go outside to a crowd of excited fans gathered outside the studio. Today, on Today, Evan was the center of attention. Evan, Cindy, my beautiful daughters, and I were on national television. It was kind of a weird feeling knowing there were several million people watching us.

   Al Roker introduced Evan as his weather helper from Make-A-Wish. He asked us a little bit about ourselves. I said we were from the Pismo Beach area of California. Al Roker invoked a Bugs Bunny joke about Pismo Beach and then turned his full attention on Evan. He asked Evan about his “Hello North Oceano” poster. Evan couldn’t name any particular friend, and my heart started to sink. There were many people who asked Evan to say hello and Evan doesn’t do well in picking favorites.

   Al Roker quickly avoided the problem by saying, “Hello friends at North Oceano.”  A large television screen was brought out, showing the same weather map the viewers were seeing. Al Roker told Evan, “Tell us what you see.”

   “I see clouds, rain, and sun.”

   “How hot is it going to be in Phoenix?” he asked, pointing to Phoenix.

   “One hundred and two,” Evan correctly read.

   “You can do the weather,” Al said excitedly as everyone cheered. He closed the segment by saying great things about Make-A-Wish. It was all true.

Today show Cast

   Inside the studio, the production crew let Evan look through one of the large cameras. At the end of the hour, Katie Couric joked Evan was not just a weatherman, but now he was a cameraman. Evan was then shown operating the camera. Like I said, Evan would do anything to get on TV. Al Roker gave Evan an autographed Today Show hat. Evan still has that hat.

Lights, Camera, Action

   Meanwhile, many of our friends and relatives were taping the Today show on their VCR's. Back in San Luis Obispo, KSBY provided coverage of Evan’s big day.

   After the Today Show, we asked our limo driver to take us to the Museum of Natural History. We didn’t see any dinosaurs or cowboys and Indians come alive, but people did recognize our family from the Today Show. We were having our fifteen minutes of fame.

   The next day, we took a couple of taxis to Battery Park to catch the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Funny, there was a large crowd of people, and not one person recognized us as the family that had been on the Today show the previous day. Talk about fifteen minutes of fame.

   On Friday, our limo drivers and airline pilots took us back to our home in Grover Beach. This was quite an adventure for our family. It was a good time to forget about kidney diseases, hydrocephalus, and life threatening scoliosis. Okay, so we still had to push Evan around in his wheelchair. It was still a good break. Thank you, NBC. Thank you, Make-A-Wish.

“…Well done, thou good and faithful servant…”

Matthew 25-21

   There is an interesting “oh, by the way.”  Evan was the first Make-A-Wish child to appear on national television. If he’d gone to Disneyworld, nobody would’ve noticed.