Sam's Make-A-Wish Experience

It all started with a question from Dr. Capitini, one of Sam's oncologists. "Have you signed Sam up for Make-A-Wish yet?" I had always believed that the Make-A-Wish Foundation was a charity that helped kids who were suffering from a terminal disease. I didn't think that Sam qualified, and wondered why Dr. Capitini was asking us such a question - did he know something we didn't? Turns out I was wrong. Dr. Capitini explained that it was for any child with a life-threatening illness. Certainly, Sam qualified. All we had to do was enter Sam's name, and Dr. Capitini's name, on a web site, and Dr. Capitini took care of the rest. In April, two volunteers showed up at our house asking Sam what he wanted more than anything else in the world. With Dr. Capitini's help, Sam determined that he wanted to go to a Green Bay Packers practice and to meet Brett Favre, quarterback of the Packers.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation got right to work, doing what they could to make Sam's wish come true. We had heard that Brett was thinking about retiring. It just wouldn't be a wish without him. The day after we heard on the news that Brett had decided to stay for at least one more season, the Make-A-Wish people called and told us that not only would Sam get to go to a Packers practice, but that Brett would be there to meet him!

On August 16th, a limo came to our house to pick us up and take us to the airport. A limo! How cool is that? After a few ultimately minor problems at the airport, we landed in Green Bay. Jackie Ver Voort, with the Wisconsin chapter of Make-A-Wish, was there to meet us. She held up a sign with Sam's name on it. She had a duffel bag full of Packers stuff for Sam, including a Packers shirt for him and one for Sarah. He even got to keep the Packers duffel bag. Jackie sat down with Sam and asked him if he knew what he wanted to say to Brett when he met him the next day. Sam wasn't really sure. Jackie warned him that Brett was a little shy. "If you're quiet, and Brett's quiet, it's going to be a very short meeting." Sam spent a good part of that afternoon coming up with questions to ask Brett and writing them down in a notebook.

From the airport, we headed out to have lunch with Mom and Dad at Los Banditos, the best Mexican restaurant in Green Bay. They had generously offered, as part of Sam's Make-A-Wish package, a free dinner at their Mason St. restaurant. Unfortunately, Mom and Dad's favorite waitress works lunch, and she works at their Main St. location. We ended up getting a free meal anyway, as the owner (manager?) came out and insisted on not only picking up the tab, but throwing in a great dessert as well.

Another limo picked us up at Mom's on Thursday morning - Wish Day! Mom got to go as well. When the Make-A-Wish people met with us in April, they asked Sam if there was anyone outside of his immediate family that he would like to be included. He immediately said, "My Grandma would love this!" When asked about Grandpa, he responded that Grandpa just couldn't watch the Packers anymore - he got too mad. So the limo took five of us to Lambeau Field. We got there at about 8:30. Jackie met us there and introduced us to Cathy Dworak, who is in charge of community relations for the Packers. It seems as though she's actually the one who did most of the work to make Sam's wish come true. She told us that we'd first have a tour of the stadium, then go on over to practice, then have lunch with the team, at which time Sam would meet Brett Favre.

Our tour of the stadium was a lot different than the one they give the tourists. We were ushered into a very nice skybox, right on the fifty yard line. Cathy told us it belonged to John Bergstrom, who's on the board of directors for the Packers. Cathy then took us down to the bowels of the stadium, taking us out the tunnel and onto the field. Sam and Sarah both got to do a Lambeau leap!

(Do you see that bear that Sarah's holding? His name is Green Bay. She bought him the last time we were at Lambeau Field, which was last summer, I believe. We had gone there with Wendy and her friend Sue, and Sue's kids, to watch the Packers practice. That's where Sam got part of the idea for his wish. Anyway, Sarah brought her bear along so he could, as she said it, "see where he was born." She carried him around all morning. He'll become part of our story later on.)

From the field, we went back inside, seeing the rooms where the Packers meet, both the team's meeting room and the linebacker's meeting room. There were all kinds of plays up on the board in the linebacker's room. Cathy promptly informed us, "No pictures!" Didn't want those plays getting into the wrong hands. We also saw their basketball court, and Sam and Dave got to shoot a few baskets. The big surprise was about to come - Cathy took us into the Packers' locker room! As Sam was walking in, Jackie informed me that I might want to get right behind Sam so I could see his reaction, and that I should have my camera ready. We had already been told that we would be meeting Brett at lunch, so I didn't think that was what was coming. I did what I was told and got right behind Sam, taking this picture. As you can see, he's pointing at something. Once I looked into the room, I saw what he was pointing at - Sam had been given his very own locker! Sam's locker was right next to Brett's. Sam had been given an official Packers' jersey, with his name on it, and also a football. He also got to keep his name plate. This wasn't just a piece of masking tape with his name written on it - they had actually made up a real name plate for his locker. The jersey was also quite impressive. His name had been sewn on in the sewing room at the stadium. There's a nice job for Mom someday.

We took a turn around the room, being suitably impressed with how large it was, and as Dave noticed, how neat! Cathy told us that the players weren't typically neat, they had someone to come in after them and straighten things up for them. As we were talking, one of the players came in (fully clothed). It turned out to be Robert Ferguson, wide receiver. Sam was allowed to go over and say hello. After that brush with greatness, we were brought back outside and led across the street to the practice field. It was very strange being brought in past all those kids lined up along the street. They were all probably wondering who in the world we were and how come we were so special. Cathy took us over to the Hutson Center, the Packers' indoor practice facility, where we got to see the inside. Once back outside again, we stood on the sidelines and watched practice. Cathy noticed an older gentleman talking to someone behind us. She went over and talked to him for a minute, pointing at Sam. The man walked over to Sam and introduced himself - John Bergstrom, whose skybox we had been in. Mr. Bergstrom chatted with Sam for a minute or two and then handed something to Sam. He told Sam that he could hang onto it for a while, but that Sam had to give it back before he left. It was Mr. Bergstrom's 1996 Superbowl ring! We were all beside ourselves. Sam quickly tried it on, with a look of awe and disbelief on his face. It didn't stay on his finger long, as Dave wanted to try it on too. I feared this would be an "I Love Lucy" episode, with Dave getting the ring stuck on his finger. Luckily, it came right off. After we got some pictures, Sam gave the ring back to Mr. Bergstrom, and asked for his autograph. Mr. Bergstrom left Sam with his business card. Maybe we'll give him a call next time we're in town.

Below Sam poses with Mike McCarthy. On the right, Aaron Rodgers stops after practice to shake Sam's hand. I don't believe they make boys any happier than this.

Cathy then brought us all to the cafeteria, where we got ourselves some lunch. Sam, whose appetite has been slowly improving, had no trouble scarfing down a plate full of pasta. Cathy asked Sam not to approach the players as they entered the cafeteria. She assured Sam that the players would eat their lunch and then approach him. Sam had one football set up next to him for players' autographs, and one sitting in his duffel bag. That one would be reserved for Brett's autograph. He also had a notebook, and Cathy had given him a few pictures of players. He had also brought a pen for them to use. Good thing we thought ahead.

The players slowly started trickling in. Of course, without their uniforms, it was tough for us to recognize them. We relied on Cathy to identify all of them. We must have made quite a sight - watching the door, then turning around and whispering furiously to Cathy, only to look back again at the players, gawking outright. Just as Cathy had said, they ate their lunch and then stopped by our table to say hi to Sam. Sam had his football out and ready, along with his notebook. Sarah was sitting directly across from Sam, at the end of the table. There were a lot of players who stopped by, and I didn't get pictures of them all, but below are the ones we were able to identify.

Do you see what Scott Wells is signing? It's Sarah's bear. She had initially indicated that she had absolutely no interest whatsoever in participating in this day. As she said to the Make-A-Wish volunteers, "I hate football." Normally very quiet around strangers, Sarah really got into the spirit of the day. In fact, she gushed. As player after player stopped by, all signing stuff for Sam, she started asking them to sign her bear. The thought of these huge men signing a stuffed animal really tickled us, but they all complied. Some just put their initials on the bear. Some got their entire signatures on there. She ended up having quite a day herself.

A short story about Billy Cundiff, who is a kicker. Billy stopped and talked with Sam for quite a while. It turns out that it was Billy who gave up his locker for the morning so that Sam could use it. Billy was so incredibly nice, and so very enthusiastic about being a football player. You got the impression that he still had to pinch himself every time he went out onto the field. He asked Sam if he had looked inside the locker. Sam hadn't, but Billy said if he had, he would have seen about twenty pairs of shoes. He has one for each turf condition. By the time he left, we were all saying what a nice guy he was. As we were listening to the news that night, we heard that Billy had gotten cut from the team. I couldn't believe how disappointed we all were. "But he's such a nice guy!" we all protested. I hope another team picks him up, and that he has a great season. Good luck, Billy!

All right, so who could be nicer than Billy Cundiff? Possibly Samkon Gado. He stayed talking with both Sam and Sarah for a very long time. He took the time to ask them all kinds of questions about themselves - the kinds of music they liked, their favorite movies, and more. We also asked him quite a few questions. He aspires to be a doctor. He's a very articulate, intelligent man. While talking to the kids, he asked them where they were from. When they answered that they lived near Baltimore, he said that the next time they're in town to play the Ravens, he'd be happy to babysit! I like this guy.

OK, so it's now about 12:30. We've been in the cafeteria for about two hours. Things are slowing down, the place is emptying out. We know, after seeing their schedule, that the quarterbacks have a meeting at 1:00. Brett has not yet made an appearance. Cathy assures us that he will be here, but Sam is starting to get nervous. He's already rehearsing his, "Well, it was a great day, even if I didn't get to meet Brett" speech. Cathy is absolutely NOT going to let that happen. She gets on the phone and starts calling people. Within a few minutes, a flurry of people burst into the room, all holding up four fingers, apparently the signal that Brett (#4) is on his way! Within a minute or two, gosh darn it, there he was. The look on Sam's face was priceless. Oh my God, it's really him! In the flesh!

Sam stood up and shook his hand, then got quickly down to business. He had a whole page in his notebook full of questions for Brett. Sam asked him about his childhood, about his first yearning to play football, and about alligators in his backyard back in Mississippi. Sam also asked Brett if he had a best friend on the team. Unfortunately, Brett isn't really close to anyone on the team anymore. All his friends have moved to other teams or retired. He did point out a friend of his who was eating lunch at a table across from us. I don't remember his name, but Brett said this was the guy who met him at the airport in Atlanta when he started his rookie season there. It seems they've been together ever since.

There was one picture I really regret not getting. Someone had asked Brett about his injury from last year - he broke his right thumb. He held his hands together to show us how his thumb healed poorly. He put both hands together, and his right thumb was about half an inch shorter than his left thumb. It was scarily impressive. He also showed Sam how he gripped the ball. His hands are absolutely huge.

We talked to him for a little while about his wife and his daughters. His wife was diagnosed with breast cancer over a year ago, but is doing well now. One of his daughters is starting college this fall in Mississippi, the other is about Sam's age. Mom had read in the paper that Brett had sold his house. She asked him if he had bought a new one. He replied that they had bought a smaller house, just big enough for the three of them, near the stadium. Mom said, "Oh, I was going to say that if you hadn't found a house yet, you could stay with us. We have two empty bedrooms. You'd have your own entrance!" Brett politely declined.

Brett's visit was wonderful, but the day wasn't quite over yet. We had one more visitor - star receiver Donald Driver. Driver also signed the bear - his entire signature. These guys are quite talented. He also took the time to pose with Sam. He was our last visitor of the day. We attempted to bring things down a notch, but we were all still quite keyed up. Cathy took us back upstairs to the atrium. One thing that we had been told about before we got to Green Bay was that we would be provided with tickets to the Packers preseason game on the 19th (Saturday) against the Falcons. We had been told to keep it a secret from Sam, but the Make-A-Wish people told him about it about a week before we left. What we didn't know was what Cathy told us next - we would be allowed to go down on the field for pre-game warm-ups! We had been given five tickets. Mom had decided that she didn't want to go to the game, so Tom was asked to come along. Cathy told us to meet her in the Atrium before the game.

We headed out the door to our waiting limo. This was a different limo than the one that had taken us to the stadium. The other one had a flat tire. You can see how enormous this thing was. The driver that morning had driven all the way up Mom and Dad's driveway, and had a considerable amount of trouble backing out. We in the back offered lots of helpful advice like, "STOP!" whenever we thought he was about to hit a tree. The driver loved this so much that he asked, as he was driving down the road leading to the house, "Do you mind if I just let you off at the bottom of the driveway?"

Saturday evening the five of us headed to the game (sans limo). We met Cathy in the Atrium, along with maybe 10 other people. These people were also going down on the field, but it was clear who was the star of the show. Cathy led Sam out, and the rest of us were just along for the ride. We were led to the sidelines, behind the Packers' bench. It's amazing how big those guys are! Here are a few shots of the pre-game action.

Smiling like fools, we headed off the field and up to the stands to our seats. We were near the tunnel, and watched as all those players that we had met make their way onto the field. The game was great - the Packers won 38-10!

This whole experience went so far beyond what we could have expected. Jackie, from Make-A-Wish, told us that before Cathy was in charge, wishes were much less elaborate. Basically, the child would meet the player they wanted to meet, and their wish would be over. That was pretty much what we thought would happen. The whole team went to a considerable amount of trouble to make this an incredibly special day for Sam. It's something that he will never forget. We can't thank everyone enough for what they did for him.