Five-year-old Evelyn Greisen sat on her mother Jody’s lap, sipping a juice pouch, before shyly answering what she wants to see on her family’s trip to South Dakota this week.
“Bear Country,” she said, with a slight smile. “I want to see the buffalo.”
The family departed for South Dakota July 26. Bear Country is on the itinerary, as are stops at Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands and other iconic stops associated with South Dakota.
It’ll be the first time Evelyn has seen any of those sites. In fact, it’ll be the first time she’s left the state of Nebraska in nearly three years.
On her second birthday in 2017, she became sick and was soon diagnosed with leukemia. She was rid of her cancer in February of 2018 but underwent two and a half years of chemotherapy. The only world Evelyn knew outside of Seward during that time was a hospital in Omaha.
“For two and a half years, we went nowhere other than the hospital and home,” said Jody.
“As a little kid, she doesn’t remember going anywhere other than Omaha,” added her father, Chris. “Most times, we’d be at home and she’d ask when we were going back to the hospital because that’s all she knew. At two years old, you don’t remember a lot and that’s what she remembered. Walking through the gift shop of the children’s hospital was the highlight of her day.”
With chemotherapy complete and regular scans showing no cancer, Evelyn is now free to tour the outside world and the Greisens found the perfect way to celebrate in a trip to somewhere other than Omaha.
“That’s why we decided on a trip,” Jody said, adding that the trip was originally scheduled for last year but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “She wanted to do something fun that didn’t include the hospital or staying home.”
Such a special occasion needed the red carpet treatment and Nebraska Make-A-Wish made sure that happened. Local Make-A-Wish volunteers Lana and Jim Daws, Nebraska Make-A-Wish Regional Director Missy Davis-Schmit and a host of volunteers and local businesses teamed together to give Evelyn a princess experience July 26 prior to the family’s departure.
The family arrived at JD’s Coffee Shop for breakfast Saturday morning, where Evelyn was told her wish had come true. She was greeted with gift cards, matching “Princess Evelyn” t-shirts for the family and other surprises.
Throughout the morning, the Make-A-Wish caravan stopped at Allure Fashions Botique for Evelyn to receive a princess gown and shoes, Chapters Books and Gifts for her to pick out books for the trip, Merle’s Flower Shop for a corsage and the William Henry School of the Arts for a tea party with her friends and family. Make-A-Wish also provided a vehicle for the vacation.
To give Evelyn a princess experience of a lifetime was a no-brainer, said Daws, as she carried a positive attitude and determination throughout her treatment.
“She loves princesses, unicorns and mermaids, so we wanted to bring that to her as we celebrate them getting ready to fulfill her wish,” she said. “She is going to be Princess Evelyn who spreads joy to the people of South Dakota, Seward and everywhere she goes. She can’t help it, it just pours out of her.”
To see Evelyn’s excitement as they readied for the trip was an emotional conclusion to a three year journey through a sea of uncertainty. Constant treatments, long stays at the children’s hospital and a pandemic provided plenty of curveballs for the family but they never stopped swinging.
“It’s been a long road,” Jody said. “It’s nice to do something normal and be excited about her beating cancer.”
And to have the Seward community join in on the celebration helped make Evelyn’s journey have a fairytale ending.
“You can’t even put it into words,” Jody said. “People who we don’t even know helped us out and it’s going to be hard to ever thank everybody.”
“The whole community of Seward…they were so good to us,” added Chris. “Words can’t explain it.”
