A wish brings imagination to life...
Seven-year-old Greta was walking down the beach with her family in Boca Raton, Fla., her head down, scanning the shore for seashells. Her eyes were focused, darting back and forth across the brown sand, searching for flecks of white when all of the sudden— her eyes met with a shimmering, blue tail. Then, a vibrant, orange tail. She looked up to see two beautiful mermaids sunning themselves in the sand. They invited her to sit with them and told her they were going to make her a mermaid, too. Greta had dreamed of this very moment for years.
It all started back when she was just four years old, in her hometown of Athens, Pa. Greta had been diagnosed with leukemia, a cancer that required her to spend countless hours at the hospital for treatments. Greta has a vivid imagination, so, to pass the time, she would imagine herself as a mermaid somewhere far away, gliding under the waves with her opalescent tail and looking up at the blue ripples of the ocean’ s surface. Greta’ s thoughts often returned to this place, until the day finally came when Make-A-Wish made her wish come true.
The two mermaids, Diane and Lily, gifted Greta her very own mermaid tail right there on the beach! They then took her to the pool where she would finally don her tail and learn how mermaids swim. There was also a treasure hunt for clues on the pool deck that led Greta to a chest of treasures that included a pirate spyglass, a sparkling tiara and jewelry. As her parents watched, they knew they were witnessing one of the most special moments of their daughter’ s life.
Her mother, Tierney, later said,“ Greta went from being a frail, sick four-year-old drawing and dreaming of mermaids during her endless hours at the hospital, to swimming with mermaids on her wish trip as a strong, healthy seven-year-old. It’ s hard to put into words what that meant— there were lots of tears! Although she ended her leukemia treatment one and a half years ago, her wish trip felt like the actual close to such a long and horrible chapter in our lives.”