Penny’s Room Redecoration Gives Her A Fresh Start
When 10-year-old Penny walked into her new bedroom, her smile stretched across her face. With joy, she bounced from one foot to another, happily taking in all the new furniture, decorations and colors surrounding her.
“It’s a fresh start,” said her mother, Jennifer.
When Jennifer noticed a rash pinpricking up her daughter’s leg, her first thought wasn’t cancer. Then she noticed a large deep black bruise on her back. She called her friend who is a doctor for advice, and he said to go to the emergency room right away.
“Drop everything,” she recalled him saying.
In the emergency room at Seattle Children’s Hospital, doctors initially thought Penny was suffering from a blood clotting issue. They had their discharge papers in hand, ready to go home after spending hours in the hospital. But when the doctors came back into the room, Jennifer knew something was wrong. They got Penny’s blood test back and Jennifer collapsed on the floor in disbelief. Their worst nightmare was realized.
On March 17, 2020, Penny was diagnosed with leukemia.
That day, Penny started chemotherapy, and she was admitted to the hospital.
Not long after her diagnosis, their family got a call from Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington. The possibility of having a wish was a joyful reprieve from everything they were facing. They talked to Penny about all the different things she could wish for – to be, to go, to have, to meet, to give back.
Eventually, she decided to wish for something that would change her life: a room redecoration.
Having to spend so much time in the hospital was difficult. Penny said it was uncomfortable at times, with the constant beeping the thrumming of machinery and a barrage of doctors and nurses coming in and out of her hospital room.
“We would talk a lot during her treatments when things were hard, or when we needed to focus on something else because the treatment was making her very sick,” said her mom. “We would talk about Make-A-Wish a lot during those times and dream. Treatment was very traumatic for her. Her wish was a light at the end of the tunnel. It was something to get us through.”
Penny describes her new room as her ‘calming place.’ With purple walls and inviting, serene décor, the room is everything she wanted and more.
She was sick in that room for a really long time, it’s nice to have a room that doesn’t remind her of being sick and is a space to meet her where she is.
Jennifer
Penny's Mother
“She was sick in that room for a really long time,” said her mom. “It’s nice to have a room that doesn’t remind her of being sick and is a space to meet her where she is.”
Today, Penny is in her second year of remission.
It took a community of generous supporters to help make Penny’s wish a reality. Nichelle Williams and Mary Ramey, Penny’s wish-granting volunteers, said the community really rallied together to make her room extra special.
“I’m grateful to all the companies and people who donate their services, products, and time to help us, the wish granters, complete these wishes,” said Nichelle. “We can’t do it without them!”
Nichelle says being a wish grantor is fulfilling.
“I love the connections I’m making and the joy that comes from granting a child’s wish,” she said. “I feel so good doing this work and I know what it does for the kids and their families. My favorite moment was watching Penny’s reaction when we revealed her new room. We hoped that she would love it, but you never know. Penny did love it and it brought so much joy to us.”
For Mary, being a wish grantor has become an important part of her life, giving her the ability to give back to the community and help give kids joy.
“A wish is a chance to take a break from an illness and dream about possibilities!” she said. “A wish can help them use their imagination to distract themselves from their treatment and gives them an opportunity to be in the driver’s seat!”
Thank you, wish-granting volunteers Nichelle Williams and Mary Ramey; Juliana Wesner, John and Lynn Plake of Home Storage Solutions; Wolf and Theresa Nickel of Stor-X; Stew Waliser, Stephen Szeliski, Seth Harmon and Ace Hardware in Edmonds for helping to make Penny’s wish possible.