I Wish to Be... in My Own Fairytale

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With an imagination far bigger than her petite little frame can hold, this creative wish kid looked no further than the depths of her mind to discover her heartfelt wish: to star in her own fairytale. Leave it to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to turn it up a notch and make her dream even more spectacular than her wildest imagination.

It all started last August when Grace, who is living with juvenile dermatomyositis — an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks blood vessels throughout the body, causing inflammation — went to the circus and was mesmerized by the performers and the menagerie of animals. It was then that she turned to her mom, Jeanette, and proudly proclaimed, "I want to be a circus person when I grow up."

Fast forward about six months and it's no surprise that Grace's circus experience was the inspiration behind her fairytale wish

With the flick of her Fairy Godmother's wand and the words bibbity, bobbity, boo, Grace's magical day started with a ride in a modern day carriage, a limo, of course. The first stop of the day was Seattle Children's Theater where she was greeted by Fairy Godmother, received her very own fairy wings and sat front and center to watch Goodnight Moon. The cast even invited Grace up on stage for a special presentation in which they incorporated a red space giraffe, created especially for her, into the production and later gifted it to her. As if Grace wasn't already over the moon at this point, the experience just kept getting better as she enjoyed a private audience with the cast who invited her to an Alice in Wonderland inspired tea party after the show.

Then, it was on to the Pacific Science Center in her Candyland themed golf cart (driven by her own fantasy chauffer, a pirate) where she got up close and personal with some amazing sea creatures in the tide pools, learned about blue whales, and enjoyed a special show in the planetarium just for her.

Next stop in the world of her dreams was a trip to the Space Needle where she was met by throngs of Make-A-Wish staff members, volunteers and supporters decked out in colorful animal hats, masks and creative costumes. Many talented performers from the cast of Seattle's Teatro Zinzanni even joined in the fun as they dressed the part and paraded around her like her own pesonal menagerie of circus animals.

The party continued upstairs in a private room where she, her family and her friends enjoyed "space" strawberries and cake and were also entertained by a juggler, a face painter, and even the Easter Bunny!

Since Grace's favorite food is pasta, her spectacular wish day ended with a delicious dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy of Bellevue in which the entire wait staff wore fanciful hats in honor of the fair maiden, Grace.

"I was moved several times during the day to tears as I thought about the awful trauma of her sometimes weekly needle procedures this past 20 months (think contorted face, eyes slammed shut, scrunched and red face, snot and tears everywhere, and an animalistic sound that you've never heard come from a child. Maybe an injured animal but not a child)," said her mom, Jeanette. "Those moments were a million miles away and sharply juxtaposed to the thrill of the entire day yesterday. A wish is a powerful thing. I completely underestimated it."

Special thanks: Volunteers Josh Yim and Kristin Litke

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