After Anthony went through the Workshop of Wishes and was told his wish to go to Walt Disney World_® Resort would be granted, he was shown a video in which a worker from Disney’s Animal Kingdom told Anthony how much she was looking forward to his visit.

At one point, the 7-year-old from Niskayuna asked, “Is this real?”

Yes, Anthony, it is.

Anthony’s April trip to Disney was a first for him. But for Make-A-Wish Northeast New York, it’s the 2,000^th wish since the chapter began granting wishes in 1987.

“This milestone is a powerful reminder of all the lives that have been impacted by the power of a wish over the years,’’ said Make-A-Wish Northeast New York CEO William C. Trigg, III. Trigg has been CEO since 2006, and has overseen more than half of the chapter’s 2,000 wishes to date.

“A wish, whether it be a trip to Disney, a backyard playset, meeting a celebrity or whatever else that can be conjured by a child’s imagination, is not just a nice thing to do for young person battling a critical illness,” Trigg continued. “A wish provides hope, strength, joy and confidence, and is a lifelong gift that can transform the lives of that child, their family, and even entire communities.”

The beaming child and his family returned from the wish and were greeted at Albany International Airport by singer Madison VanDenberg and a news conference, where Anthony answered questions like a pro.

“It was amazing at Animal Kingdom and all the other parks,” Anthony said. “At Sea World I got to see a shark, dolphins and I got to feed some sea lions and I got to see a killer whale show.”

The family expressed appreciation of Anthony’s place in chapter history, and what the wish meant during the 7-year-old’s battle with leukemia.

“COVID started, and six, seven, months later Anthony got sick. The last two years have been a very long time in our life,” wish dad Anthony said. “It’s been very difficult in many ways. This gave us time away from the reality of what we’ve been going through. It gave us time to just soak it up, enjoy and live the life that we dreamed we would be having right now.

“This has been special from start to finish,” the dad continued. “They really did treat Anthony and our whole family like royalty from the moment we stepped into the wishing room the first day, to the airport, to Florida and back.

”Having this time really gave us time to reconnect and get time we would not have had otherwise. It’s something that we will always remember.”

When the younger Anthony waited with his family at the airport to depart on JetBlue Airways for Orlando on his wish, he was bouncing in anticipation.

“Best day ever EVER,” he said.

Upon his return, he summed up his milestone wish in words that brought smiles to everyone:

“The greatest week of my life.”