Teen Is Granted a Wish That Beats All

When I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis 10 years ago, when I was just 6, I was too young to know what that meant. I know now: It is a terrible disease affecting the pulmonary and intestinal systems; it kills most of its victims by age 25.

I’m going to be a junior at Huntington Beach High School this fall and have learned to cope with the inconveniences and complications cystic fibrosis creates in everyday life. So has my older brother, Morgan, 19, who also has the disease.

Having this illness brings me down a lot--it can make life seem like a continuous down note. But it has also helped bring about the greatest moment of my life.

That moment came about because of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that works to give terminally ill kids a happier life by letting them make a wish and then granting it.

My brother contacted the foundation a few years back on one of our many visits to the hospital. He told them he wanted a computer, and sure enough, he got it. Well, last December I was ready for it to be my turn. I wanted a drum set.

Ever since I was a little kid, I have always wanted to play the drums. My parents would never buy me one, even though I put it as No. 1 on all my birthday and Christmas lists. I had gotten by without a set for years, playing on my friend’s set, pots and pans, pillows, and tables. You name it, I played on it.

As I got older, I decided I’d save up and buy a drum set myself, but I never was able to afford it. It seemed like the only way I might be able to get one was to ask for it from the Make-A-Wish foundation. I informed my parents what I wanted to do, but they laughed and said no. For days and days I badgered them, begging them to let me try. Finally, one day I got them to sit down, and we talked about it. “No,” my mom said. “I want you to get a computer! “

A computer? Give me a break. Isn’t this my wish? Shouldn’t it be for something that I want?

Eventually they gave in, realizing that it was my wish and should be for something that I truly do desire. The next day, we had an appointment at the hospital again, and I spoke to one of the social workers and told her I was ready to make a wish. She was very pleased and said she would contact the foundation.

Weeks passed, and I got very impatient.

Then, one day, Laura Manassero, one of the coordinators from Make-A-Wish, called. She and two volunteer “wish granters”--Todd and Stephanie Papa--were going to come and meet me. We sat and talked for about an hour, and I told them how I had always wanted a drum set.

I learned that Todd was a drummer which made it even better--I had someone who “specialized” in drums. In a few weeks, Todd, Stephanie and I went to Guitar Center to get an idea of what it was that I wanted. There was one set it particular, a sheer blue, Pearl Masters Studio six-piece set. I drooled all over it for hours; Todd and Stephanie told me they’d see what they could do.

*

Weeks passed, which seemed like years, and they still hadn’t called me back. “Maybe it won’t work,” I told myself, losing hope. I moped around for days.

Then came the day that would make all the difference in my life.

My family and I were going to take my grandma out to dinner. I got all dressed up in my dorky dress clothes, and we were ready to leave when the phone rang. I answered it, and it was Todd. “Yeah, Loren, this is Todd. We seem to have run into a little trouble getting you the set you wanted. . . . It’s a little too expensive,” he said.

Great. Just great. I got all pumped up about this, and now it wasn’t going to work.

Todd continued talking: “We have a party we have to go to in an hour, but we were wondering if you could meet us at Guitar Center in 20 minutes to take a look at some alternative sets.”

“Uh, I don’t know,” I said. “We were just about to leave for my grandma’s. We’re taking her out to dinner. Wait, I’ll ask my dad if we can stop by there on the way to pick her up.”

My dad, a little mad about this new delay, said, “I guess, as long as it’s quick.”

We all got in the car and left for Guitar Center. I dashed out and told my family, “Stay in the car; this won’t take long.” Of course, they followed me in.

I saw Todd and Stephanie and they quickly took me over to a small, inexpensive drum set.

“Yeah, it seems all we can get with the budget they allow is something like this . . . a set with two toms and maybe one or two cymbals.”

I was shocked. It wasn’t anything like the blue one. But still, it was a drum set.

“Well, we have it in black,” said Shaul Dali, the clerk who had worked with us. “Would you like to see that one?”

“Sure,” I said.

He led us to the storeroom, and immediately I heard someone playing drums. Nothing unusual; I mean, people play back there all the time, I figured. The drums got louder and louder when I recognized the song: ‘Give It Away,’ by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

They are one of my favorite bands, whose drummer, Chad Smith, I totally idolize. We continued into the storage room when we came to a door. “Here,” Shaul said. “They’re in here.”

He opened the door.

“Oh my God!” I said.

I was looking at none other than Chad Smith, playing on a sheer blue, Pearl Masters Studio, six-piece drum set. My drums! I nearly wet my pants.

Cameras and lights from various news stations turned on me; the district sales manager from Pearl and others were there too. I can’t even begin to explain the feeling that surged through my body. I felt like the most powerful guy in the world; like nothing could knock me down. As I stood there, shaking, and watching Chad beat the hell out of my drums, I smiled so much it hurt. He finished drumming and came down and gave me his sticks.

“You thought you were gonna get that piece-of-paper set out there, huh?” he said as he led me over to the drums.

*

I couldn’t believe that all this was for me. All these people came and did this just for me. Afterward, to top off a perfect day, the Make-A-Wish Foundation took me to the Hard Rock Cafe in Newport Beach in a stretch limousine.

I learned later that the money for my wish was raised by students at Shorecliffs Middle School in San Clemente through the Kids Giving to Kids program. This made me feel even better inside, knowing that even more people cared enough to do this for me.

And these were kids not too much younger than me.

They helped give me something wonderful, something nobody can take away: a great feeling of dignity, of importance. People really do care. I hope that some day I can give to someone in this fashion or be involved with the granting of someone else’s wish.

The words thank you can only begin to express to everyone involved my utmost gratitude for bringing me the greatest day of my life.

*

For information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County or the Kids Giving to Kids program, call (714) 476-9474, or write, 17992 Mitchell South, Suite 101, Irvine, CA. 92714