The Countdown Begins

Well, friends, I must say... The outpouring of support for our little Jedi Renn has been incredible. No, that word doesn't even do it justice. We have been blown away by the emails, comments, shares, tweets, blog posts, and support he has gotten regarding his wish to meet Master Lucas. You have shown more kindness than we know how to handle!

And by the way... Holy cow. Ever play 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon? HA! That game has NOTHING on George Lucas. Maybe it's because I am connected to a fantastic array of creative people, but let me tell you, it didn't take long before I had people who actually worked WITH George Lucas emailing me and asking how they could help. We eventually got word (thanks to author, Julie Gribble)! The email read as follows:

Dear Julie,

Your email was kindly forwarded to us by Lucasfilm. As you may know, George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Company late last year and has since retired. As such, our offices have shifted location.

 

Thank you for reaching out to let us know about your friend Bethany's son, Renn. It is wonderful to know that Renn's love of STAR WARS is a source of strength and inspiration during such a stressful time. He seems like a very resilient and strong little guy and we wish him all the best!

 

Mr. Lucas will unfortunately be unavailable to meet Renn in person. However we are hoping that you could provide his direct mailing address so that we can send him a care package. We'd love to know if he has a favorite STAR WARS character/film and what video game system he may use. 

 

Thank you again for reaching out to Mr. Lucas.

 

WOW! Right? I mean... WOW! So, naturally I emailed them back (after the hubs and I shared a good cry and a few Thank you, Jesus, for caring about Renn's heart prayers). I thanked them over and over again, and they replied:

Dear Bethany,

Thank you very much for sending along your contact information and some of Renn's favorites from Star Wars. We are so happy to put something together for him.  We will be in touch very soon!

All the best to you and your family. You are in our thoughts!

 

So, we wait!

 

The countdown does begin, though. Two weeks from yesterday, Renn's burr hole procedure will be done. Then we will wait for seizure activity, and then he may have the graph placed directly onto his brain on August 30th. If that is done, we will remain in the hospital until we get enough seizure activity to deduce the exact epicenter of the seizures, and then he will have a third surgery to remove the cause.

 

I am saddened that he will only get to go to the first week of First grade before all this begins. He is so excited and can't wait to show everyone his new Darth Vader backpack. However, I am also saddened that he won't get many visitors due to how far away from home UCSF is. Luckily, the hospital is packed with wonderful volunteers and Child Life specialists, but I'd imagine that familiarity would be something so warming for his heart.

 

Keep the picture and blog post circling around! One never knows who might see it and might tell Mr. Lucas all about the NEED, here. Renn would LOVE to have anyone visit, of course, but this Momma is going to do all she can to make his dreams come true.

 

 

Next time you see this Jedi, he will be a big FIRST grader!! Time sure flies...