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Photos by Winston Wilson, Directorate of Information Management
Karina Sones chats with Santa. |
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From jets to military working dogs, a turkey dinner to music, the annual Christmas party hosted by Andrews Air Force Base brightened the lives of many pediatric oncology patients from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, their parents and siblings, Saturday. Held for the last 21 years, the festivities give the young patients the opportunity to enjoy themselves among friends, family, doctors, and other people who have cancer. This year, 70 families and 133 kids (including siblings) participated.
ìThey love it. They are very overwhelmed with how big the party is,î Debra Casolari, child care specialist at WRAMC, said. ìThe kidsí eyes are as wide as saucers when they get there.î
The party began in 1987 when a crewmember from the 89th Military Air Wing had a child with cancer. In 1990, the party became a base project. The party is held in a hanger decorated with balloons, Christmas trees and gifts. On top of the puppet shows, clowns and face painting, the children can sit in the pilotís seat of a helicopter, and visit with their favorite cartoon characters. It all leads up to the big visit when Santa Claus himself steps off his military plane and hands out gifts to all the children.
For Tech. Sgt. Christopher Sweet, 83rd Network Operations, a detachment from Langley Air Force Base, Va., at Andrews, the party helped make the holidays much more special. ìItís been a rough couple of months on my family and me,î Sweet said. ìWeíre just getting here to Andrews and we were in the midst of a [permanent change of station] from Ramstein, Germany to Langley, when my wife was diagnosed with leukemia. She was medevacd to Walter Reed. It was that quick ó all of a sudden our lives changed.î Sweet, his wife, Tech. Sgt. Jessica Sweet, 779th Patient Squadron, and their three children, Katelyn, 7, Ashelyn, 5, and ìRay Ray,î 2, are guests at the Andrewsí Fisher House.
ìIt was great to be guests at this Christmas party,î he said. ìI myself had cancer a few years ago. It was nothing like what my wifeís going through now, but weíre a part of that family, and so to take part in an event like this is so important to us. It was really incredible ó our kids have had a tough couple of months, as well, and it was nice to let our kids be kids again. It was a first-class event.î
ìAndrews really goes out of their way year after year,î Casolari said. ìOne big thing is that the children with cancer get to see their doctors in a non-threatening environment. Also, they get to see other children who are off their treatment. Itís good for the newly- diagnosed to see the families who got through it.î
The Sweets said the best part of the party was when Santa taxied into the hanger courtesy of the 99th Airlift Squadron. ìOur kids lost their minds,î he said. ìIt was so cool to see Santa come in on a jet. Our kids were speechless and their jaws dropped ó I mean, seriously, where in the world are you ever going to see that?î
Sweet added, ìIt was awesome to see the smiles on the childrenís faces, and even on our faces. You would have no idea that weíre sick. For just one day, it was awesome to feel 100 percent. I took it all in and it was incredible to see the happiness all around ó from other families, but most especially from my kids. The event meant so much to us ó we couldnít stop talking about it. It was just the best party ever. To all the volunteers, thank you for all your support. You were at our beck and call and it didnít go unnoticed.î
Each year, they also send Santa and Mrs. Claus to WRAMC for the children who are not well enough to come to the party on base.
(Pacifica Chehy, Capital Flyer staff writer, contributed to this article.)
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