Confronting Fear with Love The Rock Star Wish Kid
“I think the greatest thing we do here at Make-A-Wish is to
confront fear with love. It’s that simple,” says Jamie. “When
families are going through sickness, especially with a child,
they often feel alone. It’s a very isolating experience — thera-
py and doctor’s visits. Your life becomes very focused. I think
what Make-A-Wish does best is that it reminds those fami-
lies that there’s a network of people around the state that they
may have never met, but that support and love them. We help
build community around that. We are lucky that Make-A-
Wish has a brand that people know and trust and will rally
around. When a child becomes a Wish-Kid, it’s incredible
to see how much philanthropy, empathy, and volunteerism
is inspired. Most importantly, it reminds those families that
they aren’t alone. It goes further than that, too. When a child
is sick, it affects everyone — friends at school, teammates,
teachers, coworkers and so on, and we hope to help everyone
heal.” We can’t talk about Make-A-Wish Vermont without
mentioning writer, Wish-Kid, Jamie Heath! She was just
7 when she had her first stroke. She had a second at 12.
Now she’s 18, a graduate from the VAST program at VTC
in Randolph and will be studying business at Norwich in
the fall where she hopes to learn the skills to “take Jamie’s
Hathaway’s job away from him.” Her smile is contagious
and her tongue is sharp. Man, she can light up a room.
The Importance of Wishing
“Make-A-Wish isn’t about getting. It’s about becoming a part
of something. Whether it’s as a Wish-Kid, or because you’re
volunteering to help make life better for somebody, or donat-
ing, it’s about being a part of that network of support that we
grow around families in crisis. You know,” says Jamie, “When
we were banding about what to name our book, it struck me
that there’s a misconception about Make-A-Wish and that it’s
that we serve, and only serve, children with terminal condi-
tions, but as people who know Wish-Kids that have grown up,
that’s not the case. We do what we do because wishes really do
inspire hope and strength and joy. Those are important fac-
tors in the healing process. Wishes are medicine for another
important reason, too, one that I’m learning. Wishes are the
only thing that these kids have control over. They get to be in
charge when most days it’s the doctors and parents, and they
get to do it in a way that’s fun. That’s a powerful thing.”
The Heavy-Hearted Part
“The hardest part of the job is, of course, that we do lose chil-
dren and that’s okay to say. I think I should speak to that. The
hardest part of the job is knowing that no matter how much
joy and happiness we bring to families, there isn’t always a
happy ending. It breaks our hearts and we’re just on the pe-
riphery of it, but the way that I’m able balance it and keep
coming to work, is knowing that we are able to still give those
families happy memories.”
The Best Part
“Everyone always asks what our favorite wish has been,” says
Jamie with a smile. “And I’m not kidding when I say that it’s
always the last one we just did or the one we’re working on.”
“I was fortunate enough that Jamie Heath was giving a
speech at one of the first Make-A-Wish events I was
involved in,” says Hathaway. “Because of her condition, she
doesn’t have the use of her right hand so I stood next to her
and held her speech. As she read about being sick and her
road to recovery, as well as how her wish had played a roll
in her emotional recovery, how it had helped to give her
a different lens on her experience, I was brought to tears.
I wasn’t the only one. Because of how powerful it was, we
ended up doing that together a few more times and it soon
became clear that her speech was more than just that; it was
a beautiful story that should be shared beyond these events.
That was when the idea to turn it into a book came about.
She’s an incredible kid. Just knowing her has informed a lot
of our mission since.”
Jamie’s story in book form, Wishes Are Medicine, can be
purchased from the VT Make-A-Wish website. All
proceeds go to Make-A-Wish Vermont.
A Brief Note From Len
Hi! I’m the new Art Director here at VTMAG. I was also
the illustrator for Jamie Heath’s book, Wishes are Medi-
cine. I can’t express just how important that experience,
Make-A-Wish Vermont, Jamie Heath, and especially Jamie
Hathaway are to me. See, after a number of years as a
novelist, my wife suggested I try writing and illustrating
Children’s Books. She was right. Don’t tell her I said so, but
I sold a book to a major publisher less than three months
later! It was a dream-come-true . . . for a little while. Cue
the sad Charlie Brown music - the book was canceled.
Ouch. But would you believe that not even two hours later
on that very same day, my phone rang again? “This is Jamie
Hathaway with Make-A-Wish Vermont. We are thinking
about doing a children’s book . . .”
How’s that for timing?
Wishes Are Medicine is, as I’m told, doing some
pretty wonderful things for Make-A-Wish children
and their families all across America. I’m beyond
proud of that. I’m proud of its message of hope and
healing, too. Wishes do come true!
VTMAG.com
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