Make-A-Wish: Airport Greeter

Location: Midway Airport

Date: Wednesday, October 09, 2013; 6:30-8:15 am

Back in June, my ‘Wish Partner’ and I had received our first ‘Wish Child’ and we were delighted to have this opportunity.  What followed was a period of frustration, since for the longest time we were unable to reach the family.  Now, it would have been one thing if this was due to medical or other reasons – after all patience is the biggest virtue in these situations – but the reason had been a wrong telephone number!  I mean come on.  So finally with the right number, I managed to reach our kid and after a few tries and with some counselling from our ‘Wish Mentor’, got him to agree to meet us at a restaurant in downtown.  We had selected ‘Maggianos’, since he had indicated that he liked ‘Tiramisu’, and my partner had even called the restaurant and got them to waive the cost of the meal.  So my partner, our mentor and I assembled at the restaurant and were directed to a table to wait.  It was the first time all of us were meeting and so we got introduced to each other and our mentor shared some of her experiences.  After waiting for over 40 minutes I texted our kid and he responded that he couldn't make it due to some medical issue with his mother.  Whether that was accurate or not, we said we understood; though it was disappointing since my partner had even baked a cake. We dispersed, and my partner indicated that in one of her phone conversations with him, she had an impression that for his wish he wanted to travel, perhaps to Australia.  So I thought of an idea of sending him a small present to not only get him excited, but also have him warm-up to us.  I found a jigsaw puzzle of a world map where the pieces were in the shape of the respective countries and mailed it to him with a note, “If you could go anywhere in the world with your family, what would you choose?”  He acknowledged the receipt but went back into radio silence after that, despite our best efforts.  This meant that other than the Comer Summer Picnic, I had been unable to help Make-A-Wish and was looking for projects to contribute towards. I had enjoyed my previous interactions with the ‘Wish Families’ and so when this opportunity presented itself, I was quick to sign-up.

Jayden's wish

I was however confused by the way the opportunity description was phrased. It said that they needed a volunteer to see the family off, by helping them with check-in and then through security – similar to what I had done previously. However, it also said that the family would be coming into Chicago and that I should be ready to meet them at the airport in the morning.  Well, which was it?  Were they coming in or leaving?  I asked Dan at MAW and he clarified that they were indeed flying out from Chicago, but were residents of Springfield and were thus arriving the previous night.  That made a lot of sense.  I also learned they were flying to North Carolina because the ‘Wish Child’ was a huge Nascar fan and was going to meet his hero, Dale Earnhardt Jr.  I corresponded with Janie at MAW and she remembered me from the previous assignment.  I asked her for some information on the family in order to design enhancements, and learned that the ‘Wish Kid’ Jayden was 10 years old and loves Chocolate, the color Red and of course Nascar.  Besides that he was a ‘Cardinals’ fan – though I had to confirm that it was the Baseball team and not Football.  He also had a 12 year old sister and while I had ideas for him, I was stumped when it came to a teenage girl.  I asked my friends and they suggested everything ranging from a make-up kit to board games to jewelry.  None of this was something that I felt qualified to select.

The presents

I went to ‘Target’ the previous day and was looking around for inspiration, when I found a ‘People’ magazine ‘Celebrity Puzzle Book’.  I thought this would make for a good present for the girl and got it after checking through it to make sure it was appropriate i.e. no section on the Kardashians!  Next, I went to ‘Lids’ and looked for a ‘St. Louis Cardinals’ cap for Jayden.  The salesman found a kid sized one for me, and it was red colored as well.  Armed with these presents, I was ready for the family.  I called the ‘Wish Mom’ and told her that I would be there at the airport by 6:30 am and was looking forward to seeing them.  The next morning I called a cab and when I told the driver that I was headed to Midway airport, he was bit suspicious since I did not have any luggage.  I had to assure him that I was seeing someone off and did not get into the specifics for the rest of the ride.  I arrived at the airport on the dot at 6:30 and congratulated myself for being early, since the family was supposed to arrive by 6:50.  So imagine my surprise when I went inside and found a family of four wearing the blue MAW t-shirts.  So much for making a good first impression!

I apologized to the mom, though she said they were early and excited to get underway.  I asked a ‘Southwest’ agent if we could have the family go through a separate line, but there wasn’t any queue anyways, and so we just followed the normal route and reached the kiosk in no time.  The mom said that they would just follow my lead, which turned out to a bit embarrassing for me since I fumbled with the computer for some time before finally getting all four of them, as well as the two bags checked-in.  That done, I chatted with Jayden about Nascar and you could see on his face how much he loves the sport.  His smile just lit up as he talked about Dale Earnhardt Jr. and how he was hoping he does better than the 6^th place finish in the previous race.  I said that after seeing you, he would surely be inspired to do better.  Seeing him reminded me of my love of motor racing while in college, but for me it was 'Formula 1' and 'Ferrari'.  I used to watch each and every race, no matter what time of the day or night, just to see my favorite racer Michael Schumacher in action. People often asked me what fun there was in watching cars go round and round, but they will never understand.  I went to the 'Indianapolis Speedway' 5 years in a row to watch a Formula 1 race and can still hear the sound of 24 cars rev their engines up for one of the greatest moments in sport – the standing start of a Formula 1 race.  I knew exactly how Jayden felt.

I asked Jayden if there was anything special planned for the wish and he said perhaps a ride in the car.  While he was all excited, his sister was quiet and very shy.  I asked her if she liked racing and she shyly replied that she did.  It was time for them to go and I took pictures of the family for MAW.  I then told Jayden that a little birdie had mentioned that he was a ‘Cardinals’ fan and then gave him the cap, which made him even happier.  I asked his sister if she liked TV - she said yes.  What about puzzles – yes again.  I said that I had the perfect thing for her flight and gave her the puzzle book which she shyly accepted.  We then walked through security line and once again there was no crowd.  As I bid them goodbye, I told the mom that I would wait at the airport till 8:15, and asked her to call me in case they needed something.  In fact, I told her to call me after that as well if there was an emergency.  I waited at the baggage claim and after checking in with the mom at 8:15, I left.

Like the previous airport assignment this had definitely been worth my time.  Jayden’s smile and enthusiasm as he talked about meeting Dale Earnhardt Jr. was priceless.  This was a wish from the heart if there ever was one.  Seeing his enthusiasm made me want to be there to see his face when he met his hero.  So would that have been my wish…to experience this moment with Jayden and Dale?  Perhaps yes.  It is truly a privilege to be a ‘Wish Granter’ and I promised myself to try harder with my kid.  I owe it to him…even to myself.  A few days later I was filling out a Bio-sketch for a survey in my office.  One of the questions was “Favorite Activity”.  There was no doubt in my mind about this one as I wrote, “To grant wishes and smiles to those who need them the most.”