NORTH : Ailing Girl Will Get to See Reagan

When 8-year-old Laurel Eernisse was given the chance to have one of her wishes come true, she wasn’t interested in taking a trip to Disney World or getting a new toy.

Instead, the La Habra girl, who has leukemia that is now in remission, said she wants to meet and talk with former President Ronald Reagan.

“He’s nice. He’s concerned about the U.S. and he does a lot to help,” Laurel said Friday. Later this month, the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Orange County chapter will grant her wish. Laurel is scheduled to meet Reagan at his Century City office on Nov. 28, according to Gay Weeks, the organization’s executive director.

The foundation, which fulfills the wishes of children who have terminal or life-threatening diseases, selected Laurel on the recommendation of her physician, Dr. Jerry Finkelstein, and a social worker. Laurel found out a week ago that her wish would come true.

Her father, David Eernisse, said that the idea to meet with Reagan came from a family friend. He and his wife, Karin, suggested the idea to Laurel, who liked it. “(Meeting with Reagan) will be something that money can’t buy, unless you’re a high-powered lobbyist,” he said. “We really like him. Laurel has picked that up from us.

“People buy toys or go on trips,” he said. “We thought we wanted something that she could grow up and tell her kids.”

Laurel was diagnosed with the disease March 23, but after 30 days of intensive therapy, the cancer went into remission. She continues to undergo chemotherapy and still misses school sometimes. On Friday, Laurel was playing with dolls with her 6-year-old sister, Kristel, and climbing trees, one of her favorite pastimes.

Laurel said that when the doctor told her she had leukemia, “I didn’t know what he was saying. I thought it was just a word.” The worst time, she said, was during the intensive therapy, when she started to lose her desire to eat, drink or follow the doctor’s instructions.

“I said, ‘Lord, take me now,’ ” Laurel recalled. Then she got better. “I was praying and I asked God to help.”

For the first few days after Laurel was diagnosed, Karin Eernisse said, they did not know how severely she was afflicted with the disease.

“That was the worst kind of hell, not knowing if the Lord was going to take her,” she said. “That’s the worst kind of pain. . . . We believe the Lord is going to keep her for a while.”

Laurel’s parents now say that her prognosis is excellent. Apparently, her mother said, doctors spotted the cancer in its early stages. Laurel also has a less severe form of leukemia that doctors have had success in treating, she said.

Laurel will be the 250th child to have her wish fulfilled since the foundation’s Orange County chapter, in Newport Beach, was formed in 1983, Weeks said. The foundation has eight chapters in California and 70 nationwide.

“What’s interesting about (Laurel’s) wish is she’s anxious to talk to him, not just meet him,” Weeks said.