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Milo’s mom took him to the pediatrician for what she thought was a cold. The doctor looked him over, ran some tests, and sent her home to pack a bag. A hospital room was already waiting for them. A seemingly healthy three-year-old walked into that appointment. A family walked out into two years of fighting for his life.
This past weekend, that same little boy dominated our basketball hoop. My teenage sons and their friends kept feeding him the ball, and every shot he made, they cheered as if he had just won Game 7. If you had pulled up to our driveway and seen nothing else, you would have seen a happy six-year-old showing off for an audience that adored him. You never would have guessed what his family had just come through.
A Wish Granted
For my 50th birthday, we raised money to provide a Make-A-Wish trip for Milo, who was in treatment for cancer. You can read that story here: My Greatest Accomplishments at 50. That was earlier this year. His dream was a vacation to the Disney Resort in Hawaii, or “to fly to the beach” as he put it. This past weekend, we finally got to meet Milo and his parents in person and hear the whole story, from well before the trip through the trip itself.
One Dream
“A healthy man has a thousand wishes. A sick man has only one.” Proverb
I watched that play out for forty years with my own dad and his MS. I watched it again standing in my kitchen listening to Milo’s parents.
For two years, they did not have a hundred plans for their lives. They had one hope: a healthy kid. They put life on hold for that single dream.
But, the Make-A-Wish trip gave them something to look forward to. Thinking about a future trip, talking about it, planning every detail of it, became their focal point during the most painful parts of Milo’s treatment. Not a metaphor. The literal thing that got a family through chemotherapy. When Milo finally rang the bell marking the end of treatment, they could not wait to go.
It hit me again how fast a life can change. One ordinary appointment, and everything after it is different. None of us know what is ahead. That is exactly why today is worth embracing while you have it.
A Favor
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The Trip of a Lifetime
And once they went, they loved every minute of it. The resort was incredible. They met other wish kids there and got to share that particular, uncomplicated joy that only kids can share with each other. Milo rode the lazy river over and over, “one more time,” the same three words my own boys used to beg me for when they were his age.
Halfway through the trip, Milo turned to his mom and said, “Mom, this is the trip of a lifetime.” I imagine those words will ring in her ears for the rest of her life.
His parents told us the whole thing marked a new chapter for their family. Before, there was the battle. The trip was the celebration. After was a new life, a normal, cancer-free life.
Anticipation, the Trip, the Memory
It brought me right back to a three-part way of thinking about experiences and vacations that I have written about before: I Cried the Whole Ride Home. I love looking forward to a trip, the anticipation of it. I love the trip itself and the experience shared with the people I love. And then I love what comes after: the return on that investment, a memory that lasts a lifetime.
I have used that framework to talk about family vacations. I had never used it to talk about getting through cancer treatment. Watching Milo’s family live all three parts of it, under circumstances so much harder than anything my family has ever faced, gave it a weight I was not ready for.
A Room Full of Parents
Milo’s parents told this whole story out loud, to a room full of our family and friends. I looked around partway through. Every parent in that room had the same look on their face, eyes welling up, imagining what it would feel like if it had been their own child on the other end of that visit with the pediatrician. Nobody said it out loud. Nobody had to. We were all grateful we had never had to go through it ourselves.
Just a Kid Again
Our family has been fortunate. We have never had to face a life-threatening illness with our boys. But we learned more from this little guy in one afternoon than from almost anywhere else this year. At our house, Milo was not a kid with cancer. He was just a kid, splashing around in our pool and holding his own on the basketball court against boys twice his size, who let him dominate and cheered every shot as if it belonged in a highlight reel.
I am sure the afternoon meant something to Milo and his parents. But it meant more to the rest of us who were there. Watching that kid and hearing what he and his family fought through to get to this ordinary, joyful Saturday is something I will not forget.
To everyone who donated to Milo’s wish, thank you. Your money mattered, and it did real good in the world. But the memory created for my family that afternoon, watching a boy who beat cancer just be a boy again, is something no amount of money could have bought on its own. Money was the tool. The memory is the return.
Start Bold
Look into a cause doing this kind of work near you, whether it is Make-A-Wish or something local, and give something this month, whatever size makes sense for you.
The next time you plan a trip or an experience for your family, pay attention to the anticipation itself. Let looking forward to it be part of the joy, not just the lead-up to the real thing.
If you know a family walking through something hard right now, do not wait for the perfect moment to show up. Milo’s family needed something to look forward to in the middle of the fight, not just after it.
Your Turn
What’s one thing you’re looking forward to right now? Drop it in the comments. I would love to hear.
The BOLD Life is for people who want to build wealth without losing themselves in the process - people who want their success to strengthen their health, relationships, purpose, and freedom rather than compete with them. If that’s the life you’re building, you’re in the right place. New here? Start with The Blueprint of a BOLD Life, then read whatever draws your attention. Every post stands on its own.
Don’t drift. Live boldly.
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P.S. The Bold Life September to Remember Challenge kicks off next week! Get ready for a bold way to make the most of the rest of 2026. 5 minutes a day, 3 areas of your life, 30 days. Details coming next Tuesday.