What's the difference between a wish and a dream'
To some, the terms are the same. But 14-year-old Kristen Main has got the subtle difference figured out. "A wish you only get one shot at and if you screw it up you're mad at yourself for the rest of your life," she wrote when asked the question. "A dream you can make your own and live it out for the rest of your life. If you don't like it, change it and live on."
Kristen, who has autism, juvenile arthritis, chronic lung disease, and dozens of other diagnoses, recently got a chance at her dream with a little help from the Dream Factory, Inc.
The nationwide nonprofit, which grants dreams to children with chronic and critical illnesses, sent the Mains to Disney World last month on their first-ever family vacation. "I wanted to have fun for once," Kristen said. "I've never really been on a vacation. I've only been moved from one place to the other, and that was for medical reasons."
Kristen takes 33 medications, uses a walker, breathes oxygen through a nose tube 24/7 and is the veteran of more than 20 surgeries. It would be a challenge for any family, let alone a military family. "It's hard to move a special-needs child from one place to the next," Kristen's mother, Debra Main, said.
The family of five - Sgt. Randy Main, 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, Debra, Kristen, son Jacob, 17, and nephew Marcus, 15 - are now at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for the second time, a transition smoothed by the installation's Exceptional Family Member Program. The Mains have moved eight times since 1995.
This time they traveled for an entirely different reason.
Gail Rengel, the Dream Factory's Oregon Chapter president, thought the Mains were candidates for travel almost as soon as she met them. "I mean, they've had every curveball thrown at them and they don't complain," Rengel said.
Because the organization doesn't have a branch in Washington, she drove up from Portland to assess the application. But even though Rengel was impressed with the whole family, the dream itself had to come from Kristen.
It came in two parts. First, she knew her travel opportunities outside the U.S. would be limited, but Epcot's World Showcase would bring the world to her. Second, Kristen wanted to be a princess for a day - but not just any kind of princess. "I want to be my own person. I don't want to copy," she said. "You hear everyone in the whole world, practically, saying they want to be Cinderella."
Instead, Kristen got to be the Butterfly Princess. Rengel arranged for a purple princess dress and butterfly slippers to be waiting on Kristen's bed when she got to the hotel, Give the Kids the World. The facility is geared specifically toward special-needs kids and their families, providing everything from rooms with hospital beds to pizza and ice cream for breakfast.
The whole family got special placement for Kristen to oversee not one but two parades, and Disney characters waved and blew kisses to her as they passed. She also got a private meeting with the Disney princesses - including Cinderella. "They made my dream more spectacular than I could have ever dreamt it up," Kristin said.
Now the Main family is trying to help bring The Dream Factory to Washington. Currently there isn't a chapter in the state, though the Oregon chapter services parts of southwestern Washington.
Servicing adjoining states strains the all-volunteer organization, however. Volunteers like Rengel pay out of pocket to meet the costs of assessing dreams - her trip to JBLM, for instance. But now Rengel has more and requests coming from Washington, though most of her donations come from Oregon.
Anyone wanting to help can visit www.dreamfactoryoforegon.org or e-mail her at gailkrengel@hotmail.com.
JBLM's Army Community Service EFMP Program offers support groups, summer camps, help with paperwork and other programs to support families with special needs. To contact them e-mail jblmimcomdfmwrefmp@conus.army.mil or call 967-9704.
Marisa Petrich: marisa.petrich@nwguardian.com
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