Make A Wish Ball

To celebrate our five year anniversary this year (time flies when you are having fun!) Ari and I decided to go to the Make A Wish Ball. Our friends Sarah and Brian made the trip up from Kentucky to join us. This charity is certainly near and dear to my heart because nearly all my patients are able to have a wish granted. This was just a small contribution towards endless trips to Disney World, hot tubs, and any other creative thing these wonderful kids can think of!

The night started out a little rough. We asked Sam, our babysitter, to come an hour before we planned to leave so that we could get dressed in our formal attire without having to entertain our little bear and to avoid a spill or sticky finger incident. Claire was not pleased with this plan. She sobbed and sobbed, I think because she could hear our voices. It was heartbreaking. We rushed and finally got out the door.

The ball, which was black tie optional, certainly attracted an eclectic group of people. I was most surprised by the lack of formal attire by the women. Most men wore either tuxes or dark suits and there were only a handful of women in long gowns. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I certainly equate formality with a long dress. Either way Sarah and I rocked our gowns! During the cocktail hour, a silent auction was held. We had our eye on a couple of things: rounds of golf and a gourmet dinner at a nearby country club was one of them. When they tried to usher everyone to dinner, we wrote one last bid and won!! Yeah golf and food!! During dinner, it was a pleasure to sit by the mom and grandfather of one of the patients I cared for last year. Then while we ate a family told their story about their daughter's journey with cancer and a bone marrow transplant, all while pictures of patients flashed up on the screen with their wish. It was very emotional for me because I knew nearly every smiling face and where their journey, either good or bad, was heading. Things then heated up with a live auction. I have never seen a live auction before but wow was it entertaining! The auctioneer was so dynamic, everyone was having a great time, and the foundation was making a ton of money. Soon the night was over and we headed home looking forward to our golf outing!