Giulietta’s Make A Wish Trip

Make-A-Wish is a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to children who have been diagnosed with a critical illness. The wish is meant to give the child and their family an experience that brings hope, strength, and joy during a difficult time. For our family, Benji, Giulietta, and Sisi were each granted a wish, and all three trips became some of the happiest memories we have.

Giulietta’s wish was originally scheduled for May 2020, but when COVID shut down all travel and wish granting, the trip was cancelled. We rebooked for March 2023. Giulietta loves warm weather, the beach, and the pool, and after a long cold Toronto winter, we settled on a week in Clearwater, Florida.

In the weeks leading up to the trip, Make-A-Wish sent Giulietta a package to build the excitement. It included her itinerary, pictures of Florida, photos of the hotel and the suite where she would be staying, and small gifts. Giulietta loved the package,and it helped her understand what was going to happen. She knew something wonderful was coming.

On the morning of departure, a limousine arrived at our house with a red carpet rolled out on the road for Giulietta to walk on. She was made to feel like the most important person in the world from that very first moment. Inside the limousine, a playlist of her favourite music was playing. Giulietta, her sister Sisi, her caregiver Myles, and her mom, Galit, travelled together to the airport, where the special treatment continued. On the plane, the crew announced that a Make-A-Wish child was on board, and passengers clapped and wished her well. Giulietta had a huge smile on her face the entire time.

The suite at the hotel was perfect. It had everything we needed, with enough space for all of us to be comfortable for the week. Giulietta settled in quickly and made it clear right away what her routine would be: pizza, every single day. Pizza is her favourite food, and on this trip, she got to have it as a special treat at every opportunity. She never got tired of it.

One of the highlights of the week was our visit to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, a rescue and rehabilitation facility on Clearwater Beach that is home to rescued dolphins, sea turtles, otters, stingrays, and other marine animals. It is also where the movie Dolphin Tale was filmed, based on the true story of Winter, a rescued bottlenose dolphin. We were given a VIP tour that took us behind the scenes into areas the public does not normally see, including the critical care facility and the pools where the dolphins are cared for. Giulietta was fascinated. She watched the dolphins closely, completely absorbed, and being that close to them was clearly a highlight for her. We also took a dolphin sighting boat tour out on Clearwater Bay, where we spotted dolphins swimming alongside the boat in the warm Gulf waters.

We spent a day at ZooTampa at Lowry Park, which is home to over a thousand animals including elephants, giraffes, koalas, manatees, orangutans, and Florida panthers. The zoo is set in lush tropical grounds with shaded boardwalks and gardens throughout. Giulietta loved watching the animals, including the monkeys and giraffes up close. The highlight at the zoo was Roaring Springs, a water ride where you board a boat and drift along a crystal-clear spring through tropical scenery before plunging down a three-storey splashdown. We all got completely soaked. Giulietta thought it was hilarious. It was so hot that day that we dried off within minutes, which made the whole thing even better.

Clearwater Beach itself was a daily destination. Giulietta loved strolling along the boardwalk, stopping to listen to the buskersplaying music in the warm sun, browsing the souvenir shops, and picking out small treasures to bring home. We ate at restaurants overlooking the water, and Giulietta’s favourites were the Tex-Mex spots where she could sit outside and eat chips and guacamole.

But the best part of everyday was the pool. Giulietta would swim for hours, laughing and joking with Sisi, splashing around, completely relaxed and completely happy. The two of them together in the water, with nowhere to be and nothing to worry about, was one of the best things to watch. Giulietta’s joy in the water is something that never changes, and on this trip, she had all the time in the world to enjoy it.

More than any single activity, this trip was about being together. It was a week where we could step away from the routines and responsibilities of daily life at home and just be a family on vacation. There was just Giulietta doing what she loves most, surrounded by the people she is closest to, with a smile on her face from morning to night.

We are grateful to Make-A-Wish for making this trip possible. The care they put into every detail, from the red carpet at pickup to the VIP tours and the beautiful accommodations, made Giulietta feel celebrated in a way that she deserved. For a child who works hard every day to navigate a world that has many barriers, having a week where everything was built around her happiness meant more than we can easily put into words. It is a trip our family will carry with us for a long time.