Emersyn made a wish
SHELLEY: Most students at Shelley know Emersyn Drollinger as a 14-year-old, 8th grader who loves playing baseball and volleyball and is a student council member. Little did they know she struggled with cystic fibrosis, a fatal disease. And because she has this disease, Emersyn as a little girl, became a candidate for Make-a-Wish.
Watch the entire program here.
Several weeks ago, on March 13, Emersyn Drollinger’s Make-a-Wish came true. Several hundred people gathered at the brand-new hitting facility adjacent to Shelley High School to see Emersyn’s wish.
“[At first] we never even told Em about Make-a-Wish,” said Emersyn’s mother, Lisal Drollinger. “If that was ever to happen, we wanted to wait until she was old enough to choose for herself what she really really wanted. They kept mentioning it. We kept saying, “no thanks.” Somewhere on one of those visits, Em heard about it. We explained that we wanted to see how she did in the future and let her choose something when she was older if it worked out.”
Fast forward to a couple of years ago, Coach Kim Bateman and her husband Shane came up with the idea of building a baseball hitting facility for Shelley. They approached the school board with the idea, who approved it if they could find the money to build it.
Later, the school board gave the baseball teams a five-year loan to start.
“At that point, the legwork began, and we started to find individuals and businesses that would help fund the construction of the building,” Bateman said. “As you will see, it takes a village to accomplish something like this. We want to thank all who contributed and the volunteers who helped build this facility.”
It took five months for volunteers to complete the facility. The Shelley softball team was able to use the facility in February. Since then, the Shelley high school and Firth baseball teams have used the facility. The facility will be open to other groups and teams as well.
Now back to Emersyn.
“Last fall Em came to Trevor and me and said, “I know what I want my wish to be!” The high school softball team was building a hitting facility, and she wanted to use her wish to help,” Drollinger said. “She went through the interviews. Make-A-Wish has the best team ever! They asked, “Is there someone you really want to meet? Taylor Swift? Anyone?” Nope. She knew what she wanted. “Is there somewhere you really want to go? Anywhere?” Nope. She knew what she wanted. “Is anyone asking you to give away your wish or pressuring you to?” Nope. She was fixed and determined. she said.”
So, Make a Wish granted Emersyn her desire by equipping the hitting facility with baseball hitting machines, a sound system, a flatscreen television, weights, helmets, and baseball bats just to name a few.
At the unveiling ceremony, Julie Thomas, regional director of Make-A-Wish, addressed the crowd and told them the reason we’re here besides to celebrate this beautiful new building is we are here because of Emersyn.
“Make-a-Wish is a nonprofit that grants a wish to children who have been diagnosed with a critical illness. To qualify for a critical illness, you have to be diagnosed with something progressive, degenerative, or malignant,” Thomas said. “These children and their families go through dark times. They are given adult situations no child should ever have to face ever. And they take it with dignity and pride, and selflessness. And I don’t think there’s a better example of that than Emersyn.”
“When Make-a-Wish is invited into a child’s home, our goal is to give the child their most heartfelt wish,” Thomas continued. “That is no easy task. You are talking to an individual about something bigger than themselves. We asked them to wish big, bigger than Santa. So you give them four categories to choose from: to go somewhere, to have something, to be someone, or to meet someone. Without hesitating, Emersyn said I want to give.”
Although “give” is not a distinct category, it has been added because the first “give wish” came from Eastern Idaho, Thomas said.
“On behalf of myself, Make-a-Wish Idaho, our Board of Directors, major league baseball, and pitch in for softball and baseball,” said Thomas. “We are here to tell you your wish has been granted.”
With that, Emersyn removed the packaging around the equipment, unveiling it for everyone to see.
The event concluded with Emersyn’s mother addressing the crowd.
“We just want to thank Make-a-Wish and all those who have helped Emersyn play baseball. She loves to play baseball,” Drollinger said. “In school this year, Emersyn was asked to write a poem that was six words that told her life story. And these are the six words she chose—”cystic fibrosis battles to bring blessings.” I am just glad that she realizes her life is full of blessings. We know if God asks us to do something hard, he also gives us an equal or greater number of blessings to go with that hard thing. This room is full of people who have been a blessing to Emersyn and us.”
Emerson is flourishing despite having cystic fibrosis.
“Ems numbers are fantastic. She is flourishing,” Drollinger said. “It’s because medications she is taking right now were not even invented fourteen years ago. And they are making the biggest difference in her future. We are fangirls of science and research!”
