Make-A-Wish with the Seattle Storm

It's been a while since we've had a blog post, as we've mostly been focused on trying to have a normal summer and enjoying our treatment break. Still, we've had August 26th circled on our calendar for months now, and the day finally arrived to fulfill Charlotte's Make-A-Wish! This is likely the longest post we've ever had on the blog, as the day was filled with non-stop joy and surprises, and we wanted to share as much as we could. The day ended up being more special than we could have imagined, and we made memories that we will cherish forever.

The day started early, with a car picking us up at 8 to take us to the Storm's HQ/Practice facility in Interbay. We were greeted by several members of the Storm PR staff and folks from Make-a-Wish. Talisa, the GM, came out shortly after to give us a tour of the facility, which is absolutely amazing. They have two full-size courts, an impressive gym, lap pool with hot and cold tubs, a kitchen with a chef to help prepare meals and more. This is definitely a world-class setup and you could tell that the team appreciated the resources for them.

One of the first parts of the tour was crucial, as Talisa brought Charlotte into their conference room to meet with coach Sonia Raman and sign her Honorary Rookie Contract. We joked about playing hardball with the negotiations, but everyone was all smiles as Charlotte signed and 'officially' joined the team!

Once Charlotte was official, we went down to the practice courts and she took her first shot as a Storm player. Unsurprisingly, the shot was true and banked off the glass for an easy bucket as the GM and the rest of us cheered! We then made our way into the weight room and started meeting more players, including Jade Melbourne and Natisha Hiedeman. They showed us a little bit of the weight room as we made our way deeper into the facility to the kitchen. That's when we ran into Dominique Malonga and Flau'jae Johnson, who decided that we had to go see their favorite part of the facility, the pool! Flau'jae took charge and wound us back the way we came and it seemed she made an immediate connection with Charlotte.

On the way back from the pool is when we connected with Ezi Magbegor, who is Charlotte's favorite player. We were fortunate enough to meet Ezi briefly about a year ago during one of our visits to SCH while she was there delivering toys. Ezi was incredibly gracious then, and even more so during the Wish day, when she took us to the kitchen to get smoothies, and sat down with the three of us to talk for about 10 minutes. The chance to have a conversation with Ezi like this was really cool, and it was a good chance for a breather before we moved on to the morning shootaround with the team.

Before shootaround could start though, Charlotte needed to gear up. Talisa took us into the team locker room where Charlotte had her own space! She got a custom jersey with her name and favorite number, along with a bunch of other swag. She was ready to hit the court!

Shootaround began with Charlotte acting as DJ, specifically picking the first song to set the tone for the day. If she was nervous, she didn't show it! With the help of Anna from the Storm's operations team, she picked "Bloodline" by Ariana Grande, which was well received by her new teammates. The shootaround was very cool to watch - to see how a professional team practices certain situations and drills. Throughout this period, various players would wander over to the DJ table when they weren't in the drill to chat with Charlotte. From afar, Lauren and I could see lots of laughs and smiles during these little sessions, from both Charlotte and the players. It was really heartwarming.

As the practice came to a close, it's apparently tradition (or at least fairly commonplace) for each member of the team to attempt a half-court shot. They go oldest to youngest and any player who makes the shot gets $100. There were a few close calls, but ultimately each member of the team missed their chance until it was Charlotte's turn. Coach Raman let Charlotte pick a player to shoot for her, and without hesitation, she picked Ezi. Lauren and I were off to the other end, so we didn't know that Ezi's shot was for Charlotte, but as soon as she launched it, we could tell it had a chance. After what felt like a minute of hang-time, the ball bounced off the backboard and in! Everyone on the floor went absolutely crazy and ran over to hug and celebrate with Charlotte!

After collecting ourselves from the excitement, and learning that Ezi had just earned Charlotte a cool $100, we were asked to give a brief interview with the local Fox 13 channel (Charlotte crushed it, obviously), as well as promo photoshoot in the Storm's "Production Room." This was a small room with a professional backdrop and photography lighting. It was here that Charlotte was asked a few questions that ended up being aired on Good Morning America the day after the game. After wrapping up this last photoshoot, we were finished with the morning portion of our day, and got to head home for a few hours to rest before the game.

While the tip-off for the game wasn't until 7pm, we had to get there plenty early with the rest of the team. We were picked up at 3pm and taken to loading dock at Climate Pledge where the players enter. A recent, fantastic trend in the WNBA is for the players to do a "Tunnel Walk" when arriving to the arena, where they can show off their style and personality pre-game. Flau'jae wanted to make sure Charlotte joined her for her Tunnel Walk, and the swagger she had was contagious. Charlotte completely understood the assignment, and the two had a fun mini-photoshoot.

Our next stop was to the Team Store in the arena for Charlotte to customize a denim Storm jacket with different patches. She ended up picking several designs and one of the store employees helped her determine placement and got them pressed on. One of the patches was misbehaving, but the attendant was undeterred, and tracked down some fabric glue to ensure it adhered properly. It was such a small thing, but also a great example of how everyone involved with the day wanted to go above and beyond to make sure everything was as perfect as possible for Charlotte.

With her new jacket ready, we made our way to the media room for the pre-game press conference. Charlotte joined Coach Raman to answer questions from local media. She shared a story about getting to meet Ezi last year at SCH, and she also learned that she was being tasked with a pre-game speech to the team. She joked about being put on the spot, but was clearly having a good time up on the stage.

With her media obligations over, we were able to head to the court to watch the team warm-up. Coach Raman and Natisha Hiedeman each took some time to sit with us during warm-ups, and several players came by to check on Charlotte. Ezi had a few surprises for Charlotte, the first being that she had gone to the nail salon after the morning shootaround to get her nails done to match Charlotte's own nails (expertly done by Lauren the night before). Ezi also had handwritten notes for Charlotte, Lauren and myself. She capped off the surprises by giving Charlotte the pair of shoes she was wearing, which she signed.

At this point, Lauren and I were taken to our seats for the game, while Sarah from the Storm took Charlotte to the locker room to hang with the team. The arena had opened at this point, and we were able to see some of the many Team Charlotte supporters who had started filtering in. We can't express how wonderful it was to see so many friends and family come to the game to show their support for Charlotte with custom shirts and signs. I wish we would have been able to engage with all of you more during the day, but having Team Charlotte there meant the world to all three of us.

Charlotte helped the team get hyped pre-game with handshakes and joined the huddle before they took the floor. She then joined Lauren and I in our seats, where we'd been given all sorts of treats from the Storm - candy, popcorn, and custom cookies. The Storm even renamed the pretzel from the concessions stands for Charlotte, since those are one of her favorite snacks.

Once the game was underway, the Storm had a special segment announcing Charlotte as the newest Honorary Rookie. Watching the video was really special, and we got to cap it off by being on the jumbotron, which is always a treat.

The surprises weren't quite done though, as we also got a special visit from the Storm's mascot, Doppler, who worked through the crowd to meet Charlotte. Finally, as the game ended with the Storm holding off the Tempo for a hard-earned victory, Ezi, Natisha, Flau'jae, and others spotted us in the crowd and worked their way to us so that Charlotte could celebrate with her new teammates. Flau'jae came into the stands (seemingly to the dismay of the team security guard following her) to shake Charlotte's hand and dance with her. This was truly such a special way to cap off the day, as these ladies genuinely wanted to make sure that Charlotte was included in everything.

Once the stands had cleared, we made our way back to the court for some final interactions with the players, including a few photos with Dominique Malonga, who also wears number 14. She wanted to make sure she had a chance to get a picture with her and Charlotte in their jerseys. Afterwards, we made our way to our ride outside the arena, with a brief pitstop to chat with more friends that were at the game, before finally heading home. The whole day was over 14 hours of activity, and easily the most that the three of us have smiled in a long, long time. I truly can't thank everyone at Make-A-Wish and the Seattle Storm enough for the gift they gave us. This was an experience that could not be replicated, and it was only made possible because so many people genuinely cared enough to go out of their way to do something special for Charlotte. Being on the receiving end of such kindness is a blessing that I won't ever forget.