One wish every hour, one precious memory forever

Ah, the power of a wish.

If there is one thing human beings have in common, it would certainly be our ability to wish. Whether it’s children asking for magical wishes, or adults with more complex ones, it is the one thing we possess that nobody can take away! It is something we can do at any time of the day. As the Disney song says, "A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you’re fast asleep." Or as another song says, "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are." And how many times have we all wished to find a magic lamp with a resident genie who would grant us three wishes, and for our third wish, cunningly wish for three more?

The beauty of wishes is that some of them are powerful enough to take us far and wide. Yet some wishes are granted within the depths of our souls. Not with the wave of a magic wand, but through ordinary people doing extraordinary gestures.

I had been trying for some time to organize a long overdue get-together with Gift Gate’s Tita Virgie Ramos, ninang at our wedding and Swatch Mom. Aside from all the catching up we had to, I had a few business-related ideas on my mind and was hoping for some advice. We eventually started talking about places worth taking the children to. Our favorite was the zoo.

And, as if on cue, Tita Virgie began receiving text messages which she quickly replied to. After a few texts back and forth, she said, "This is Eddie Santos of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He says you were playmates."

"Oh Eddieboy!" I said. "Yes, his cousin and I were classmates so on weekends, we would go to each other’s house and play."

Apparently the foundation was preparing to grant the wish of a leukemic child. The wish: To go to the zoo!

Eddieboy, who I later discovered was the founder of Make-A-Wish Foundation (MAWF) of the Philippines, had always been a nice guy. Thus I was not surprised he was involved in an endeavor such as this. What I was pleasantly surprised to find out was that Gift Gate is MAWF’s first corporate partner in the Philippines. Well, I suppose it was just natural. After all, when we say Gift Gate, we think kids. (I think Swatch, too. Ha, ha!)

I had heard of the MAWF before, but not until now did I feel so close to it. I immediately felt the desire to help out, in any way I could. But as in any organization I involve myself in, I wanted to do my research. Eddieboy was nice enough to send me some material.

I tell you, never have I been so grateful to be blessed with two healthy little boys. And as a mother, I could not help but feel for all those children and their families at a level that only another parent could understand. But there was comfort in knowing that there are those who care, and will go out of their way to try and enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

MAWF grants the wishes of children (well, 18 and below) with life-threatening illnesses. They have 81 chapters in the US and 24 international affiliates spanning five continents. Today, there is one wish granted every hour throughout the world. The wishes fall into one of four categories: I wish to go..., I wish to be..., I wish to have... and I wish to meet...

I was surprised to hear about some of the wishes that have been granted. These children are given the chance to visit the places others could only dream of or meet people who are far from their own reality. Big name celebrities such as Michael Jordan, former US President Bill Clinton, the Pope and even the late Princess Diana have at least once been part of making wishes come true. Then of course there are the volunteers who are the real wish-granters.

MAWF receives support from many wonderful people and organizations. First and foremost are the volunteers, who are compensated by the fulfillment of being part of the MAWF’s valiant efforts in the lives of these special children, corporate partners and individuals.

We have seen many in need, especially in our own country. No doubt people have the desire to share their blessings, but some just don’t know how. Everyone, I would think, wants to be a part of granting a child’s wish.

As MAWF’s corporate partner, Gift Gate has pledged to donate a portion of their proceeds to the MAWF’s worthy cause. Therefore, when you purchase anything at a Gift Gate store, you make a contribution to the MAWF. This means more children will have more or bigger wishes granted. Whoever thought it would be this easy to make a wish come true?

The people at MAWF say that if these children had more time, they wouldn’t be asking for ours. They also stand by the belief that a lifetime is measured by memories and not by age. I’m sure we all agree. If there is any doubt, we should ask all those children whose wishes have been granted and are still here to tell us all about it. Sadly, there are not too many of them left.

There is something else I also believe. As Swatch aptly puts it, "Time is what we make of it." In the case of the MAWF children, their time is what we allow it to be. We may not be able to stop the natural course of their illnesses, but we can surely make them feel as if they have lived full lives. These precious memories can also somehow comfort the families they are leaving behind.

The beauty of a wish comes when it is finally granted. At the end of this whole process, the angels carrying these children up to heaven will surely be entertained by the stories of their wonderful adventures. It is now up to us to that all the other children who will eventually follow will also have their own stories to tell of how they received their wishes as gifts every day.

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Join in this one-of-a-kind event as 10 children with life-threatening illnesses from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Philippines see their wishes come true, in cooperation with Gift Gate.

Be there and witness it as it unfolds with "Gift Gate...Gifts Every Day" on July 3, 2 p.m. at Gift Gate Gallery, Glorietta, with Martin Nievera and Kris Aquino.