Making a wish....

Growing up we are all taught to find the silver lining in bad situations. We are advised from a young age to look on the bright side and wait for the sun to come out from behind this temporary cloud. Most often this is sound advice and works like a charm to give us the strength we need to charge through the dark moments of our lives. After all, this too shall pass, right?
Sometimes, however, it's pure crap. Okay, maybe it's not pure crap, but there are moments it sure feels nearly impossible. As I have mentioned, my thirteen year old step-son, Nicholas has been fighting brain cancer since he was eleven. He has also been fighting some fairly significant mental health issues most of his life as well. There are days his father and I struggle hard with the injustice of it all but I'll spare you my internal monologue - it's messy and usually full of expletives.
In any case, if anyone could find an up side to brain cancer, it's Nicholas. He was thrilled beyond words that, due to his illness, he qualified to participate in Make a Wish. For those who don't know, Make a Wish is a non-profit organization that grants a "wish" to a child under the age of eighteen who has or is currently facing a life threatening illness. It is a wonderful organization that has brought tremendous joy to countless children.
After several letters and phone calls, Make a Wish arranged to visit us at our home. There was paperwork to do and, of course, Nicholas' wish to be revealed.
For weeks, Nick labored over his wish. What should it be? Should he go somewhere? Should he ask to meet a famous person? He made his rounds, asking each of us what our wish would be. Until he asked, I hadn't really thought about it or how difficult it would be to narrow it down to just one wish. I certainly didn't realize how difficult it would be for a mentally ill child who had some damaged parts of his brain to decide. Nick would announce his wish several times a day to the family. Every announcement, of course was something vastly different. He wanted to travel by rocket to Mars. He wanted to travel by submarine to see the remains of the Titanic. He wanted to spend a day with the New England Patriots, his favorite football team. Then there was the day he announced he wanted to go to Safeway. Don't ask me where that one came from. That would be a wish I would have made; let someone else go and do the grocery shopping.
The day finally came for the Make a Wish volunteers to come. Nick was bouncing off the walls all day with anticipation. Since they wanted to meet with Nick's entire family, Hurricane Dawn was present as well. With extra chairs pulled in from other rooms, we all settled down for the meeting. One volunteer talked with Nick in another room to try to help him narrow down his wish at last.  Brian and I answered question after question while Dawn said nothing and scowled at everyone. At least that wasn't uncomfortable or anything.
At long last, Nick and the other volunteer rejoined us - Nick's wish nailed down and in hand. He wanted to go to Hawaii.......... or Vietnam.
We all looked at each other for a moment in sheer confusion. Then Nick said, "What? I like war history. I just hope we don't all get shot." This is what happens when you tell a child with mental illness issues and brain damage to "think big". You get weird - fueled by questionable logic at best. Safeway is starting to look much more attractive. After some more discussion however, the volunteers helped us convince Nick that perhaps a Disney cruse would be a better option and he happily agreed.
In the weeks since our meeting with the Make a Wish volunteers I have come to a horrifying realization. Despite my offers to stay home to look after the dogs and be available for my mother-in-law in case of emergency,  I now have to go on a vacation with my husband's certifiable ex-wife. I'd rather take my chances in Vietnam.