Surprise of a lifetime......

On Tuesday Dalen was able to meet and watch the Orlando Magic Team practice. He was so surprised and happy. Back in May, Dalen was in the yearly Runway to Hope Fashion Soirée and was escorted down the runway with Orlando Magic point guard Jameer Nelson. Somehow Dalen talked with Jameer about attending a practice with him after the fashion show. Leave it to Dalen to make deals with NBA players. Time had past and Dalen mentioned if Jameer had contacted us for the practice. Of course I looked at Dalen like baby don't get your hopes up; maybe you can bring it back up during the next fashion soirée in 2014.  I would of never to think this deal would become a reality. However, Dalen never forgets anything except to do homework and clean his room. One day in January I made a deal with Dalen. I promised him I would try my best to contact Jameer to get the day at practice if he brought his grades up. It's been really difficult to get Dalen motivated and eager to do school work because of the lost of eye sight and time of being well enough. We have several conversation about how he feels and why he was chosen for this journey. I can't blame Dalen on the way he feels because the journey has been the hardest situation I've ever had to deal with and I'm just the mother, not the patient. Someone recently asked Dalen how he felt when he was losing his eyesight. He replied " I feel really lost." My eyes being to water because my heart was sad to hear my son answer in present tense. The question was how did you feel. Here I am thinking everything was going okay. He is use to the routine doctor visits, he is comfortable with his stable eye vision, however that's not the case. My baby is lost still trying to find his way through this journey. Well, he got me thinking...I decided to make a deal with Dalen. If we could get his grades up for the second card marking I would try my best to contact Jameer Nelson for a day at practice. I sent a couple of emails out to previous contacts. I received no replies until almost a month later. Runway to hope had contacted Jameer to see if the practice could be possible. My emailed express what a awesome Kid Dalen is and how he was able to get good grades even with the many absent days. Well on Tuesday Dalen and the entire family was invited out to watch the Orlando Magic practice! What a fantastic day! I kept this day a secret from Dalen. I told him that he had a doctors appointment and it was serious because something was wrong with his blood work. As we were arriving to the destination, Dalen began to become very sad. Dalen hates to do anything blood work because they must access his powerport. However when he notice we were at the Amway center, his whole attitude and facial  expression changed. My baby had the biggest and brightest smile. He said " Mom you did it! I'm going to practice with Jameer!" I was so over whelm with joy because I was able to make my baby happy and not lost. Dalen was able to meet the entire Orlando Magic team and coaches. Everyone greeted My baby by his first name. He told me "Mom I'm a celebrity!" I thought that was so funny. One of his favorite rookies  #5 Victor Oladipo invited Dalen to come on the floor and stretch with him. Dalen was lost for words; that right there is not often at all. I'm still so overwhelm with joy for my baby. Thank you so much Runway to Hope and Orlando magic staff, team and coaches for making a dream come true. Words can not express my gratitude.