“This trip will have an impact on my life. I really believe it made me a better person”
How can I possibly thank you enough for this journey of a lifetime. My trip to Poland has truly impacted me in many different aspects, truly life changing. I can only hope that I always remember everything that has touched my heart and apply it to my life. I look forward to making my life and the lives of my friends and family more valuable, special loving and happy.
First of all I’d like to acknowledge how this trip was so well planned and guided to benefit us in so many ways. We saw Berlin! Amazing. Learned a lot of history of Poland and lived and ate Polish culture. I’m not one for trying new things but I believe after eating all the Polish cuisine and cakes from the families I will eat most things that are put in front of me, for a sort of respect to others.
Kamila, Kamila, Kamila… While preparing for our journey to Poland, Garry mentioned how the kids always fall in love with her. I didn’t know what to think of this because well, she never spoke much at the meetings. Well she was more than Garry described. She truly made it the trip it was. We were so comfortable around her she became one of us. She’s hilarious. Once of the coolest, funniest chill adults ever. One dinner she literally laughed for 15 minutes straight, with tears in her eyes! Our group got along really well and I can only hope we stay in contact - hopefully through more charity work.
When I think about all of the kids we visited there is something so special that you take away from each and everyone. However – two of their stories stayed with me and will stay with me forever. Natalia is 18, she wanted some clothes because she loved fashion. She was so thrilled with all the gifts. Her strength is truly unbelievable, she had recently got out of hospital where she was in a room with no windows for two months. She had to talk to family through a door. I cannot think of anything harder to endure. The strength her and her family have is unimaginable and can only impact the lives of so many others, mine being one of them, and I’m so grateful.
Michal was one of the last wishes we granted and definitely touched me the strongest. For me I felt the biggest connection with him. We were told he only had 7 months to live. One of the things that was so remarkable about the trip was how happy the kids were when they got their gifts. However while we were at Michal’s I could only see sadness in him. Some smiles here or there but I could feel the sadness. I felt like he was so happy to have us there and get his dream, but at the same time he had trouble seeing five happy teenagers living and laughing. I also felt like he was very uncomfortable with himself and his appearance which broke my heart. I would have done anything to have healed his heart but it’s obviously not possible. Michal will stay in my heart forever. What he is going through is probably something I will never see again in my life and would have never. A fifteen year old boy knowing that he has 7 months to live and with that so much pain.
Over the trip I learned a lot about myself and how I want to live my life. This will probably sound odd but before this trip I really cared about what I looked like. I put time and thought into it and wasn’t comfortable with myself as I was. I couldn’t have thought twice about what I looked like through the journey. There was so much more important stuff to think about and the people I surrounded only saw what was on the inside.
Before the trip I concentrated a lot on my social life and friends and gradually saw less and less of my parents, they came second cause I knew they’d always be around.
Well, I can tell you how I’ve never been so excited to see my parents. The trip really reminded me of the importance of family and I really feel lucky to have had that. In every home we went to the parents, grandparents were there, some mothers shed tears seeing their kids getting their wish. It was really touching and I know my parents would be the same. It really hit me over the head on this trip that I could loose someone any day, and even if not, life is so short and my family means the most. This trip really made me realize how scary cancer is and I am also grateful for the heath care system we have in Canada and realize how lucky we are. I want to be a happy, happy family and I hope I can pass on my hope and what I have taken from this experience to my parents. Something else I recognized was how kind all of the kids suffering were. The sicker, the kinder. I really believe this is a beautiful thing. There was never any judgment only appreciation and kindness. I will take this with me and try to live like a better person.
I could write so much on how amazing this trip was and what I learned. This trip will have an impact on my life and I hope I will make it stay with me forever. I really believe it made me a better person. I look forward to doing more good things and charity. I look forward to travelling and learning more about this crazy world. I think about all the sick people in the world and the surrounding families and I am so thankful my family is not affected. Thank you so much for this opportunity – it means so much to me.
