Saturday was a dream for any 9-year-old: a first limousine ride, first airplane trip, first visit to Disney World.
For Dawson Miller, it was particularly special. He's taking the week to visit Disney World, Sea World and Florida waterparks with his mother, grandmother and brother for his Make-A-Wish dream vacation.
Miller, 9, was diagnosed with leukemia more than a year ago, but no one would ever guess. On Saturday morning, with a full head of shaggy brown hair, he raced around the parking lot with his brother Dalton, 10, dragging a suitcase on wheels.
Although excited, Dawson was shy, hesitating to say more than a few words about the trip or the leukemia.
"My mom found a bump on my head and took me to the doctor," he said. "We didn't know what it was."
On their first trip to Disney World, Dawson and Dalton are looking forward to the new Harry Potter ride, any water ride and roller coasters. It's the first time for mom Michelle Miller and grandma Debbie Bruce, too.
"I think I'm more excited than they are," Bruce said with a laugh. "I couldn't sleep last night."
When Dawson was diagnosed Feb. 12, 2009, Make-A-Wish Foundation members visited him at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston in March to fulfill a dream. At first, he thought about camping and fishing in Florida but later chose Disney World. Bruce searched for a local limo service that would give a free ride and found Simply Elegant Limousine Services in Gainesville, whose owner attends Concord Baptist Church in Clermont where the family sometimes visits.
"Are y'all going to the airport this morning?" limo driver Frank Gilstrap said when he pulled into the church's parking lot. The brothers pulled their suitcases up to the trunk and quickly hopped in the back to explore the inside, try out the different seats and buckle up.
"I have kids and grandkids, and when you make a kid happy, it's great," Gilstrap said before driving the group to the Atlanta airport.
Dawson attends White County Elementary School and Dalton attends White County Intermediate School. The boys are missing classes for a week, but mom knows how much the trip means to the family.
"It's been tough, going in and out of the hospital every two weeks for awhile," she said. "He lost his hair on July 4 last year, and I remember watching fireworks with him in the hospital. Now he still goes once a month for chemotherapy and spinal taps."
Like any other 9-year-old, Dawson giggled at inside jokes with his brother and pretended not to smile when family members took pictures. More relatives showed up before the four climbed into the limo to leave and passed off a handful of balloons.
"Let one go before we leave and see if we can beat it to Florida," Bruce said. "You can have the window seat on the plane, and we'll wave to it if we pass it in the air."
As the limo drove away, Dawson let one green balloon float out of the window. As the limo pulled onto the road, family members yelled goodbyes to the only thing they could see from the rolled-down rear window - a small hand waving back to them.