From Where I’m Sitting…

What was the last thing you wished for? Was it money? Was it that things would turn out okay on something that was bothering you? Was it that you were thinner, or taller or richer or stronger?

Last week I received a call from a good friend of mine, her name is Patti Gorsky, and she is the Executive Director of Wisconsin’s Make A Wish. There was this 4-year-old boy that I will call Tommy who has been struggling to fight cancer for the last two years and his health was failing quickly. What does a 4-year-old boy wish for that has terminal cancer? He wanted to play on the beach. That’s it, sit in the sand and play on the beach. Make A Wish selected Door County and Patti gave me a call. They had lined up the cottage for the family but were wondering if there was anything we could do to add to Tommy’s wish.

Phil Berndt from our team put out a call and our members came through in aces. They offered a stocked refrigerator; a basket feast ready to grill, firewood for the fireplace and a beach fire, beach toys, flowers for the cottage, transportation, use of pool facilities if the bay was too cold, fishing on a boat, and many many other items, the generosity was overwhelming. When Phil met up with the dad, to give him some information on the things arranged, the family was speechless. They said that fighting the cancer for two years had taken its toll on their family, financially as well as emotionally. There is no way they could have taken this time to spend one last week with their son.

I moved here 11 months ago, leaving family, friends and a community I’ve lived in for the last 29 years. I immediately fell in “like” with Door County. My job has been wrought with many challenges over the last 11 months and there were times I wasn’t sure I would or could make it long term in Door County. Then something as simple as a phone call changed all of that. I now see the true heart of Door County; I see that the wish of a child comes first and foremost. From where I’m sitting, its looks as though my heart has found a new home, in Door County.