Dear Make A Wish

Dear Make A Wish,

A thank you letter seems too inadequate to express what I want to convey. You have not only sent us on the holiday of a lifetime, but you have also opened a door to a world of possibilities sealed shut for so long, that we had given up trying to pick the lock.

Let me try to list some of the joys you have bestowed upon our family: thank you for giving Rory the chance to stand up in a crowded Aer Lingus Paris-bound flight and instruct a whole plane load of passengers in his best school teacher voice, that he wanted ' Gach duine isteach sa line' so that we may disembark in an orderly fashion. Thank you for allowing Jess to walk up to French immigration officers and show her passport like a pro, while telling them to get a move on as time was ticking on her three day Euro Disney pass. Thank you for that wonderfully kind driver who met us at the airport, all breathless with enthusiasm for the Disney delights awaiting boy wonder and his big sister.

Thank you for the hotel; sparkling like a New York department store on Christmas eve, where we ate pizzas shaped like Mickey Mouse and splashed in a pool shaped like a ship. Thank you for giving our kids the chance to giggle 'till midnight and order room service like pampered celebs. Thank you for the magic of three whirlwind days of wide-eyed wonder surrounded by Goofy, Mickey, Minnie and friends. Thank you for a Monster's Inc Mike toy, discovered in the back of the gift shop after years of searching, which by the way, led to an emotional reunion with Sully back in Galway. Thank you for the glee of the Peter Pan ride, the wow of the Studio, the twinkle of the lights, the fairy dust and the kindness of strangers.

You have broken our travel taboo, we have found our lost courage and are now ready to take on the world. We have started to plan again, you have no idea what that means to a family who, for six years, have been locked into their own high tech medical world of hospital visits and sleepless nights.

Our wish was for a normal life but you gave us the world.

Thank you,

Boy Wonder and family