This weekend, my friends and I attended Make-a-Wish Foundation of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana's Big Wish Gala.

Several of my friends from the Younger Woman's Club of Louisville are Wish Granters for Make-a-Wish, so I'd heard about some of the amazing opportunities that local kids had been granted. Still, I wasn't prepared for how amazing and emotional it was to hear the Wish Kids talk about getting to visit Tahiti or meet Apple's Tim Cook.

The Gala was truly lovely (and trust me, I go to enough of these things that I'm pretty hard to impress!) The Seelbach was an elegant backdrop for dinner dancing, and raising money. In fact, the event raised over $184,000 for Make-a-Wish!

I love that Make-a-Wish helps make dreams come true for children with life-altering diseases. I was particularly moved by how many of the wish kids and their parents described the Wish as a time to "just be a kid" or a time to "not have to think about cancer." So many of us take our health and good fortune for granted; it was sobering to hear the Wish families talk about the gift of normalcy that their children had been granted!

If you'd like to make a time or monetary donation to Make-a-Wish of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, please visit their website. Also, please take a moment to watch this video of a precious toddler from Eastern Kentucky who wished to go to Disney World.

Special thanks to Shircliff Publishing (and their unofficial mascot, Willie!), for sponsoring our table! It was such an incredible night to hopefully help wishes come true.

More about Make a Wish:

Make-a-Wish Day at Keeneland

Make-a-Wish #BIGwishgala