If you ask Stephanie Holland to tell you about her experiences with Make-A-Wish, there’s a good chance “magic” will be in her answer. She is a mother of four– two daughters and two sons– and both of her girls were granted wishes by the non-profit.
“It is an amazing organization that allows families to feel so special and gives back to them and helps them realize that other people outside their family care about them and want to give them memories that can last a lifetime,” Holland said.
Make-A-Wish sent Holland’s oldest daughter, Emily, to Disney World in 2000. She was 17 at the time and living with Cystic Fibrosis. The disorder forced Emily to “battle for her life every day”, Holland explained.
“She had to do aerosol treatments and percussion two or three times a day,” Holland said. “She could also not digest her food well so (she) took up to 40 to 50 pills a day just to absorb the nutrients and get the vitamins.”
The trip to Disney World proved to be an “escape” from all that, said Holland.
“It was just incredible, I mean, I can’t say words enough for it.”
Four years after returning from Disney World, Holland’s youngest daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Callie was 15-years-old. Four days after her diagnosis, she had life-saving surgery to remove the tumor. Shortly after, Make-A-Wish granted Callie’s wish.
“She (Callie) had had such an amazing time with her sister that she could think of nothing better than to repeat that wish and it was just as magnificent the second time,” Holland said. “The whole thing was magical.”
It has been more than ten years since those Make-A-Wish trips to Florida, but Holland said she thinks of them often. She said the memories made are even more precious now because in 2010, Emily passed away. Holland said Emily, who was 26, had undergone a double lung transplant just two years prior.
“An amazing woman, an amazing girl,” Holland said of Emily. “She was very strong and loving and giving.”
Holland said before she passed, both Emily and Callie became volunteers for Make-A-Wish. To find out how you can become a volunteer, call the Lubbock office at (806) 785-9474.
