I wish to go to Hawaii to see Mount Maula Kea

Cora's wish was to go to a beach with palm trees and swim with dolphins! We were all thrilled when we found out that Hawaii was an option, and when she found this out she specifically requested to go to the Big Island because it was home to Mauna Kea, a mountain that had become VERY important to her. (To explain a little more: This mountain was special because a short while into her treatment course, Cora was struggling (as any 5-year-old would) to understand the scope of her treatment, and this is when we (her mom and dad) came up with a mountain metaphor to explain her leukemia. We explained to her that her leukemia journey was like a mountain: with some steep and difficult parts, and some downhill and easier parts, but a long journey. This helped her understand her treatment path and really empowered her.

She took the metaphor and absolutely ran with it by creating her own personalized version of her favorite mountain (Mauna Kea) and called it "Cora's Leukemia Mountain". The way she explained "her mountain" is that it was really steep and uphill at the beginning at diagnosis and in the early phases of treatment, with many obstacles and fireballs for her to dodge; but with every doctor visit, hospitalization, or phase of treatment, she would move forward and eventually go over the top and then onto the downhill, which was easier, but still had obstacles and took a long time to get through. She described that she had to dodge many fireballs along the way (the biggest one was the one coming for her before she knew she had leukemia, but dodged it by figuring out she had leukemia and being brave when she started treatment). The other big fireballs or fire monsters were times when she did not feel well, had to do tough treatment days, needed hospitalization, etc.. She also imagined that there were gem prizes along the way that she could collect with every big step forward, and imagined unicorns and butterflies along the way that helped her get through the tough times.

This mountain metaphor became something we talked about so much that Cora eventually drew a beautiful picture of the mountain she was imagining and we actually framed the drawing and labeled the phases of her treatment at the bottom of the drawing. We hung it outside her room and she literally moved a little stick-figure of herself on the glass every time she felt she had done something tough to move her forward. It was a metaphor that she really latched onto and her mountain helped her so much to visualize and persevere on her long treatment path, and empowered her to give herself credit for all the amazing things she did along the way. The mountain metaphor was so effective an impactful for us that we (Cora and mom) actually started an organization called Bravery Mountain where we make personalized bravery mountain art for other kids who are undergoing treatment for cancer or other chronic illnesses. Cora has a hand in the design of every personalized mountain and it has brought us so much joy to bring some happiness and help other kids like Cora in this way.) So, when she found out she could go to the island where "her mountain" was for her Make-A-Wish trip, she was absolutely overjoyed!!

As mentioned, we chose to wait until Cora was done with treatment to have her wish fulfilled so that she would have her port out (and therefore be allowed to swim in the ocean) and be stronger given that she wanted to climb "her mountain" (Mauna Kea) while we were there. Her wish gave us something to look forward to throughout her treatment journey, and was often something we would talk about to help us see the light at the end of the tunnel, to motivate all of us to keep going to reach the prize at the end of treatment.

Cora's Wish experience was absolutely MAGICAL. We have never been to Hawaii and the Big Island is truly a special place, full of so much natural beauty and home to such friendly people. Make-A-Wish put us in a wonderful hotel at the Hilton Waikaloa Village, which the kids loved thanks to the waterslides, the tram and boat taxi, the pools, and amazing performances by hula and fire dancers at their Luau dinner. One of Cora's Wish Activities was to go to the Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo, and this was one of our favorite parts of the trip. They truly treated us like VIPs and gave us a private showing in the planetarium (complete with a viewing of the stars from the night she was born), a guided tour of the awesome exhibits, special gifts for all the kids, and lunch at their delicious restaurant.

Cora and her brothers also enjoyed her other Wish Activity: swimming with a dolphin named Nimbus! On our free days, we also enjoyed exploring the island and saw so much including Hapuna Beach with its great swimming and waves, Punalu'u Black Sand Beach, Volcano National Park with a hike through a lava tube, rainforests, lava fields, small towns with delicious shaved ice, several waterfalls including one we could even swim in, and so much more. Probably the most memorable part of our trip, though, was actually going up "Cora's Mountain" (Mauna Kea) to watch the sunset. This was a full-circle moment for our whole family and being up there was a moment of pure joy and gratitude. We are so thankful to Make-A-Wish for giving us the opportunity to travel to the Big Island of Hawaii and this was a trip we will never forget.