Dear Make-A-Wish

“It is with sincere gratitude that we write this letter to you. On October 19, 2011 our daughter Katie, along with the whole family, was sent on a trip to the island of Maui in Hawaii. This trip had a huge impact on our lives. Katie is a 15-year old sophomore in high school who went through intense treatments for Cancer of the past year including 1 major surgery, 3 minor surgeries, 7 rounds of chemotherapy and 7 weeks of radiation. It was the roughest year that Katie has ever had and hopefully ever will have again. The news of this Wish trip was wonderful for 2 reasons. First, because going to Maui was something that Katie had always dreamed of doing. Second, the news came before the completion of her treatments.  She was worn out physically and emotionally, so the news was just the boost needed to give Katie a will and desire to push through the remaining treatments and move on to better things. We believe that the second reason was just as important as the first. “

The family said the resort was beautiful and exotic and was truly like walking in to paradise for them and that Katie had a huge smile on her face during the entire trip.

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During Katie’s Wish Trip she was able to go parasailing with her brother Marty, take a helicopter ride over the west side of Maui and Molokai and go zip lining with her mom on four different zip-lines over canyons and ravines. The entire family was able to go snorkeling off the beach of the resort where they saw reefs full of colorful fish, sea turtles and sting-rays!

“Since the trip you granted to her, Katie has been back in school full-time and taking some very hard classes like AP Euro and Pre-calculus and for the first marking period she brought home all As and one B. She has rejoined the swim team and started indoor lacrosse. She has been through 2 sets of her 3-month follow-up scans at the hospital and is considered in remission at this time. We pray every day that this continues to be the case for the rest of her life. Katie is a very special girl who brightens our life every single day. We cannot thank you enough for your kindness and especially for the kindness of your supporters who helped to make this trip possible for Katie. I don’t know if we could ever fully help you to realize how much you have helped us or how truly special you are to us. You will always be in our hearts…”
 Katie, Martin, Trish and Martykatieboyle3.jpeg