HUMOR – When the Make-A-Wish foundation offered to grant a wish to 13-year-old Jayci Glover from Kanab, her request got me thinking about how the granting of our wishes is not what makes us super special or gives us super powers, it’s what we do with those wishes.

Suppose that tomorrow you took a walk on the beach at Sand Hollow reservoir and tripped over a magic lamp because somebody left their magic lamp on the beach like a dummy. And then suppose that Barbara Eden popped out of the lamp and offered to grant you one wish. What would you wish for?

The obvious answer is to wish for more wishes, but that will never happen because this is not Barbara Eden’s first rodeo. You only get one wish. And it will probably be the last wish you will ever be granted, so choose wisely.

I imagine some would wish for wealth. Forget wealth – some people would probably wish to simply not have debt. Some would wish to travel the world. Some would wish for immortality. Some would wish for smaller thighs. Some would wish that they could spend the rest of their lives eating See’s Candy and reading books on the beach in the Caribbean. Not naming any names.

The point is, when a person is offered a wish, he or she typically thinks about his or her needs and wants because we are human.

But some people have endured so much that it makes them sort of superhuman.

Jayci Glover is a 13-year-old from Kanab who was diagnosed with a rare form of terminal lymphoma last year. For the past year she has been at Primary Children’s Medical Center undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Earlier this month her parents brought her home from the hospital.

In her mother’s words:

There is nothing more to try. We have left no stone unturned. We have tried all proven lymphoma treatments, many alternative and experimental treatments. We know that we cannot catch up to Jayci’s disease, let alone contain it. It is taking over her body at a rapid pace.

Make no mistake, Jayci has won her battle with cancer. She has never let it change her. She has been positive and strong. She has done all that has been asked of her and done it with graceful determination. Even when doctors and specialists thought there was no way she would/could tolerate another brutal treatment, she did it. And she did it with a smile on her face.

When the Make-A-Wish foundation offered to grant Jayci a wish á la Barbara Eden, she did not wish for a trip to Disneyland or to play baseball in Yankee Stadium like most teenagers – or adults – that I know would have. I think when I was thirteen years old I probably would have wished to be serenaded by the New Kids on the Block.

In an almost superhuman act of selflessness, Jayci chose to donate her wish to Kanab High School.

Before a basketball game on Feb. 12, representatives of the Make-A-Wish Foundation presented a $7,500 check to Kanab High School principal Brenan Jackson on Jayci’s behalf. The money will be used to purchase new scoreboards for the high school gym.

I hope I remember to be that selfless the next time I trip over a magic lamp on the beach at Sand Hollow.

Resources

• Jayci Golver’s Caring Bridge website

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Elise Haynes chronicles family life in her blog Haynes Family Yard Sale. Any opinions stated in this column are her own and not necessarily those of St. George News.

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