Why I'm supporting Make A Wish
As a Mother of Seven & Grandma to 6 there are plenty of things that have frightened me over the years.
Fevers in the middle of the night. Trips to hospital. Accidents. Scares. Moments when your heart seems to stop while you wait for someone to tell you that your child is going to be okay.
We have had our close calls.
But I can also say, with an enormous amount of gratitude, that I have never had to hear the words that my child has a serious, life-threatening illness.
Someone very close to my heart has.
My beautiful niece Aliza was diagnosed with cancer when she was just two years old.
Two.
An age that should be filled with muddy shoes, cartoons, cuddles, toys scattered across the floor and negotiations over why bedtime is apparently the greatest injustice known to humankind.
Instead, Aliza and her family entered a world of hospitals, treatments, appointments, needles, medications, waiting, worrying and fighting.
For 807 days.
Eight hundred and seven days is an awfully long time in anybody's life.
When you're only four, it is almost unimaginable.
Yet this little girl kept going.
And this year came the news we had all hoped, prayed and crossed every available finger and toe for.
Aliza completed her treatment.
And today, she is cancer free. ❤️
Those words are worth celebrating very, very loudly.
Along the way, Aliza was also granted a wish through Make-A-Wish.
And that is one of the reasons this year's Make-A-Wish Halloween fundraiser has become so personal for me.
A Wish Is More Than Just a Present
It can be easy to look at Make-A-Wish from the outside and think it's simply about giving a sick child something they've always wanted.
But it is so much bigger than that.
For a child whose little world has suddenly become filled with doctors, hospitals, treatments and things they don't get a choice about, a wish gives them something completely different to think about.
Something exciting.
Something that belongs to them.
Something to dream about and look forward to.
And it gives their families something precious too: a chance to create happy memories in the middle of circumstances no family ever expects to face.
For a little while, illness doesn't get to be the main character.
The child does.
As a Mum, I Can't Look Away
Having seven children has taught me many things.
I've learned that silence is suspicious, snacks apparently evaporate into another dimension, and somebody will always need you the second you sit down.
But more importantly, motherhood has taught me just how fiercely you can love another human being.
When one of your children hurts, you would give almost anything to take that hurt from them.
Watching someone you love go through what Aliza and her family have endured changes your perspective.
I cannot imagine having one of my own children face 807 days of cancer treatment.
I hope I never have to.
But I don't have to personally experience that nightmare to care deeply about the families who do.
I don't need it to be my child before I decide their child matters.
And that's really what supporting Make-A-Wish means to me.
This Halloween, Wild Woods Is Wishing Big 🎃
This year, The Witch of Wild Woods / Wild Woods is proudly taking part in the Make-A-Wish Halloween Fundraiser.
Halloween is already a time when children get to dress up, imagine, play, laugh and believe that perhaps the world contains a little more magic than we normally allow ourselves to see.
So what better time to help create some very real magic for children who deserve bucketloads of it?
Between now and Halloween, we'll be raising funds through our Wild Woods gallery and at upcoming markets and events, with the celebrations continuing on Halloween itself.
You can donate through my fundraising page, donate in person, come along and grab some Halloween goodies, or simply help us spread the word.
Every contribution matters.
Because somewhere there is another Aliza.
Another two-year-old whose childhood has suddenly been interrupted by hospital rooms.
Another mum, dad, grandparent, sibling, aunt or uncle silently wishing they could make everything better.
Another little person who deserves something wonderful on the horizon.
Aliza got her wish.
She fought for 807 days.
She finished treatment.
And now, at just four years old, she gets to begin a brand-new chapter...
Cancer free.
So this Halloween, I'm raising money in honour of my beautiful niece, but I'm also doing it for every child still fighting.
For every family waiting for good news.
For every little warrior who deserves a reason to grin from ear to ear.
And for every wish still waiting to come true.
Because sometimes magic isn't spells, crystals, cauldrons or things that go bump in the night.
Sometimes magic is simply a whole bunch of ordinary people deciding to help make something extraordinary happen for a child.
And that's a kind of magic this Witch of Wild Woods will happily get behind. 🖤🎃✨
For Aliza.
For the fighters.
For the families.
For the wishes still waiting.
Let's make some magic.
