HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Running down a corridor at Richmond International Airport, 4-year-old Cricket Gardner giggles as she hurries along with her family to catch a flight to Florida.
This is the moment the Gardner family has been waiting and wishing for, a victory lap for their youngest daughter and finally some vacation time together as a family.
“You gonna see some dolphins? Show me the dolphins. What about the turtles?” signs Cricket’s mother, Dominga, to her excited daughter.
Cricket’s wish to go to the beach is a dream made possible by the Greater Virginia Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation; an organization celebrating a big milestone with Cricket’s wish. Earlier in the week, the Gardners were told that Cricket’s wish was the 6,000th granted by the chapter. The family was invited for an official celebration at Ourisman Toyota in Henrico County. Dominga Gardner says the surprise wish came at the perfect time.
“It’s the real quality time that we need,” Gardner says. “To be someplace where we can just focus on each other and not have the stress of our everyday lives, so far away that we can heal, rebuild, just have those magical moments far away from cancer.”
In the first week after her 2nd birthday, Cricket was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Gardner says her two-year journey with the disease has been difficult, but a wish to go to the beach kept Cricket fighting and her family hoping.
“Her favorite place is the beach,” Gardner says.
“She loves the beach more than anything and she always has, and it was the one thing that we couldn’t wait to do when she was done with treatment.”
For Make-A-Wish President and CEO Sherry Lambert, wishes to help children focus on something positive, can change medical outcomes and have an everlasting impact on the entire family.
“One of the favorite things I love to do is to hear the stories of either siblings or wish recipients,” Lambert says. “Even 30 years later, you know that you’ve made a difference in their lives, and it really takes a community working together to do that.”
Through donations and volunteers, Make-A-Wish Greater Virginia is making dreams come true for thousands of children across the commonwealth.
Including Matthew, who wished to be a SWAT team member for the Richmond Police Department.
For Josie, who wanted to build a nature park in her small hometown of Damascus.
Or Ja’milah, who wished to cheer on the sidelines of a VCU men’s basketball game.
All small wishes that have created big smiles, and most importantly, hope.
“There’s organizations that do amazing things that you don’t know about until you’re in a situation,” Gardner says. “And you don’t want to be in that situation, but you’re so grateful for the people that donate time and money and efforts to make the worst thing that can happen to you, a little better.”
And for that long-awaited trip to a white sandy beach in Destin, Florida with her family by her side. It was everything that Cricket could have hoped for.
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