Nicky's Wish

February 17th, 2002: The Animal Kingdom and our trip back

Our last day started on a sad note. Nicky had an eye abrasion and I was not sure if I should take him anywhere. Finally I decided to take him to the Animal Kingdom to a dark show and see if he would open his eye. Something similar had happened in the past where I was able to get him to open his eye, so I was hoping for the best. Worse came to worse I would take him back to the hotel. We covered the wheelchair as best we could and off we went. It was unfortunately a very sunny day (unlike the previous day in Sea World) and this park did not have many indoor things, so I took him to a Bug's Life 3D show and that worked! That dark theater peeked his interest and after we left Nicky was screaming to me.. "Mamma... I can open my eyes!"

Thanks to that we were able to take him to the Safari to see the Elephants, Giraffes, Hippos and many other animals, he just loved it. One place where we stopped and took the above photographs was the beautiful Aquarium. Half-way thru the day we went home and in the evening we went to Epcot for a final peek. Nicky's eye at that point though was getting worse and he spent the rest of the day with his head under a blanket :-(

The next day it was time to head back home, and we let Nicky rest as much as he could. His eye still was not better, so we kept the wheelchair covered. As amazing as usual, he was all covered up singing and playing with us! Our plane left Orlando at 6pm and arrived in Salt Lake City where our layover was only about an hour. Pretty soon our Fresno plane took off and we were back on California ground. We slept at a Holiday Inn, and then a limo took us to the Amtrak station where a train took us back to Bakersfield. Nicky's eye was a bit better and he could open it today, but not completely better. When we arrived in Bakersfield everyone was waiting for us, and as we got off the train we felt like celebrities as we were greeted with tons of camera flashes.

Nicky and Shirley above for one last picture together before leaving for our home. A BIG thank you to her, the Make a Wish foundation, R.P. Ulrich Elementary school and the students of East High for making Nicky's Wish come true!

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Some may own castles on the banks of the Rhine,
and hire an orchestra each morning at nine.
But richer than I they will never be...
I had a mom who made Web pages for me!

~Nicky's Realm on the Web~
[Nicky's Journal] [Nicky's Story] [Nicky and Epidermolysis Bullosa] [Surgery Tales] [Picture Gallery] [Halloween Gallery] [Recent Photos] [1st Birthday] [2nd Birthday] [3rd Birthday] [4th Birthday] [5th Birthday] [6th Birthday] [7th Birthday] [8th Birthday] [9th Birthday] [DisneyWorld 2000] [Nicky's Wish] [Nicky's Toy Zone] [Nicky's Web Rings and Awards]

Just think how happy you would be if you lost everything you have right now, and then got it back again.
--Frances Rodman

Navigate this kingdom with the transporter!