There are not many good things that have come from having cancer. The people we’ve met and connected with, the new perspective we have, the focus family time we do now are a few. When we started our journey at Cincinnati and were officially diagnosed with cancer, our social worker mentioned Make-A-Wish. Aiden immediately said no as he thought it was only for kids who were dying. Dying has never been an option for him. He’s a fighter. Then, he felt that others deserved it more than him. We did radiation and chemo, and he felt too sick to Make-A-Wish. It got put on the back burner.
As the dust from radiation settled this fall. We returned to somewhat a normal routine. thr last side effects of radiation as well as depression and anxiety had their grip on Aiden. I reached back out to the Social Worker to start the process.
I had one goal: ARROWHEAD. We had gone to a Chiefs game prior and saw a group on the field. I wanted Aiden to be one of those on the field. Hesitantly, Aiden also agreed to start the Make-A -Wish process.
This process is a little lengthy, but SO worth it. We discussed with a volunteer via video call Aiden’s wishes. He got to make three wishes (2 experiences and 1 object). The volunteer (who just so happened to be a teacher AND mother to a Make A Wish kid) told Aiden to dream BIG and convince him he deserved a wish for what he had been through. With this, his wishes got bigger than Arrowhead. Aiden wished for 1) Go to the Super Bowl 2)Go to the Bahamas 3) Signed NFL Memorabilia.
We were immediately told that none of his wishes could be granted. For several reasons, one his diagnosis, they are not doing international wishes, etc. Then, not 24 hours later, our original Make A Wish contact told us to get all the paperwork, and they may be able to slide him into this year’s group.
Casey and I went into overdrive and got everything in. Sure enough, she got him into the Super Bowl, but we were instructed not to tell Aiden. We knew we were going to the Super Bowl Nov. 16th and had to stay tight-lipped until the official reveal box came from Fanatics in January.
To reveal the wish, we got a box from Fanatics. With perfect timing, the box came the same week as Aiden’s birthday. So the plan was put into place to reveal his wish at his birthday in front of all his friends and family.
There are no words to describe how that moment felt when he finally realized he was going to the Super Bowl.
Strong as a Mother 