I enjoy writing about Milan and his life experiences. Of course, because he’s my hero, but also because I’m curious about the social and emotional effects of his terrible start in life. I follow his story with both admiration and fear.
It’s become a routine by now: before I write my blog post, I ask Milan what we’re going to talk about. He lists a few things, and I turn them into a column. As we were doing this, I was startled by my own behavior: my questions to him are very negatively charged. I’m looking for drama to fuel my story.
Milan noticed it, too. “Dad, things are going really well, aren’t they? I was a pilot just last week!” And indeed he was—on Sky Kids Day. This event is organized for children ages 6–18 who have a serious or chronic illness or an intellectual or physical disability. Each child gets to fly in a glider with a pilot. For 15 minutes, they feel like royalty in the sky. On a day like this, you step into a world full of hearts of gold—a warm, huggable core in an increasingly harsh society. Here, heroes are honored by heroes. Volunteers, sponsors, pilots… They all do this to see the smile on a child’s face when they step out of the plane.
I thought about it. Milan is indeed doing very well. There is life after cancer. Of course, there are some tough days. But there are also days when he gets to fly a plane. Or experience a dream day organized by Make-A-Wish Netherlands, where he gets to ride in a fire truck, a limousine, and a police car. He’s met other children with retinoblastoma at the activities organized by the OOG in OOG Association. And there are the days when the whole family goes to Opkikkerdag every year to be pampered.
This platform gives me the opportunity to thank all these organizations and the wonderful people behind them. They ease the suffering of so many families and touch the hearts of so many children. They offer people band-aids after they’ve taken a hard fall on the sharp edges of life.
And most importantly to me: they make sure Milan says he’s doing really well. Because, as my sweet little smart aleck also said, “If we get to have such fun days, then cancer isn’t all bad, is it?”
And you know what? He’s absolutely right.
