Thank You for Carissa's Wish

Dear Make-A-Wish,

I don’t know what to say --- how can I express how grateful, thankful, and blessed we are to have had this experience of our lifetimes.

When my daughter Carissa wished to go to Hawaii Make-A-Wish swept our entire family off of our feet, whisking us away from all of the worries that come along with having a child with Juvenile Dermatomyositis. Carissa’s interest in Hawaii sparked because she was learning about the state in her sixth-grade class.

She wanted to see Pearl Harbor because she was studying about it in Language Arts/Reading and read had recently read “A Boy at War.” Her teacher had visited Hawaii and all of the discussions about all the “beautiful scenery” made Carissa’s appeal to the beautiful state even stronger.

Carissa and the rest of our family had such a wonderful trip. During her illness, we were blessed by family and friends who helped us through it all, but the generosity of “strangers”, who have become great friends, has amazed us. We are truly thankful for all the work that was put into making Carissa’s wish come true.

Again, thanks so much for all you have done for Carissa. She will have memories of her trip that will continue to be treasured for a lifetime. Her experience with Make-A-Wish has been such a blessing.

Thank you so much,
Phil, Ann, Jessica, & Carissa


Carissa’s wish trip was sponsored by the Chi Omega’s at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Carissa and her family went to Taste of IU with the Chi-O’s to celebrate her wish trip. Carissa’s condition Juvenile Dermatomyositis is a rare autoimmune disease causing vasculitis, which is the swelling and attack of blood vessels throughout the body.