6 Minutes Wrestling with Life

Magic Wand

I wish I had a magic wand
That I could use each day.
A wand that held the kind of magic
To make sadness go away

The Magic Wand
Jack R. Roberts

February 16th, 2010

My mind is in overdrive, and I cannot sleep.

I grab my laptop and attempt to go online to pass the time.

As I open the laptop, the screen automatically goes on.

There is a half written letter on the screen.

Dear Extreme Makeover,

My name is Maverick Passaro and I live in Long Island, NY.

I have decided to write to you to tell you about the two heroes in my life,

my mom and dad.

My parents would sacrifice anything for my brothers and sisters and me.

Now it is my turn to try and help them.

My parents have never been big on fixing up our house, they have always spent the money instead on us. I can't tell you the amount of things that need to be fixed in our house.

You would never know it from looking at our house from the outside.

On the inside it needs repair.

But for us, that has always been ok.

That is not why I'm writing to you today.

On August 22nd our lives changed when my nineteen-year-old sister went into cardiac arrest and she is now nearly paralyzed.

For four months my mom and my dad never left her side. I mean never, 24 hours per day, every day.

They both took shifts in a hospital upstate while the other tried to keep everything together back home. One of my parents was always with Jess, and the other was always with us.

Everyone told them to put Jess in a nursing home, but they said Jess is part of our family and she belongs home with us.

Now on top of everything, my sister's room was upstairs, she is now living in our dining room with no privacy at all, I don't know how she will ever shower because the only shower is upstairs and we can't get Jess up and down the stairs at all.

My dad sleeps on the floor next to her at night and my mom sleeps upstairs.

My mom and dad are struggling with everything that is going on, so I am sure that we will not be able to build a shower downstairs anytime soon.

My parents are so overwhelmed but yet they take each day and make it the best they can, not knowing what to expect from tomorrow, with hope the next upcoming day will be better.

If you could please help make their lives a little easier, I would feel like somehow I have helped them.

When someone asks my mom, "Is there anything I can do for you?" she always answers with a tear in her eye, "Do you have a magic wand?"

Maybe you can be that magic wand.

Or that angel from "It's a Wonderful Life," they keep talking about.

Thank you for reading this.

Maverick

Sleep will not be possible anytime tonight.

I just keep reading this over and over again.