Santa Claus usually does all the traveling, but this time, a group of kids flew from Dulles International Airport to the North Pole to meet the big guy himself.

Now in its 25th year, United Airlines offered a Fantasy flight for hundreds of children with serious diseases. Once in the air, the pilot reached a “top secret altitude” and warned kids to keep the window shades down.

Santa has a mystery passage to the North Pole that he wants to keep a secret from the Grinch.

“Basically, we’re going on a plane to the North Pole and then we’re going to meet Santa,” says Alex Green, 10, who is fighting pediatric cancer. “It makes me happy because, since I have cancer, I’m doing something fun and I can actually go to the North Pole.”

Alex’s mother, Jenny, says he was diagnosed with a Stage 4 Wilms’ Tumor when he was five years old.

“To see all these kids smiling, it’s emotional,” she says. “Pulling into the airport, I got teary eyed seeing all the volunteers that come together and make this happen. It’s wonderful.”

Kids walked through the “North Pole” terminal greeted by dozens of volunteers — including a band, Spongebob Squarepants, Elmo, The Racing Presidents, cheerleaders — and of course, Santa.

Denise Robinson-Palmer, base manager of flight attendants, says she looks forward to this “fantasy flight” every year.

“Today I was with a kid and I got a little choked up, so I had to walk away because this is not a time for us to get into that,” Robinson-Palmer says. “It’s a time to make them feel like today is the most wonderful day to them.”

Original Source and Audio

“To another little girl.”

That’s what 3-year-old Ariana of Winterport, Maine, said when her father Josh Smith asked where her donated hair was going to go.

It was then that the dad of two realized his toddler had a heart that was too big for words.

“I do a charity called Extra Life where I play video games to help raise money for kids,” he said. “Ariana happened to be sitting on my lap when a video played showing a little girl who was bald, lying in a hospital bed with tubes in her.”

When their daughter showed curiosity, Smith and his wife Crystal explained how medicine was what made the child in the video lose her hair.

“Without a second thought, Ariana said ‘Oh, well she can have some of my hair,’” Smith said. “That’s when my wife clued me in that they have these organizations where we could donate it.”

The Smiths chose “Locks of Love” to send Ariana’s generous gift to a child with medical hair loss.

A week later, Ariana was taken to the family hairdresser where 10 inches was cut from her hair.

“It was her first haircut,” Smith told ABC News. “She could be so selfless like that. Her first reaction is ‘How about I give up something that I have so a little girl can feel pretty’.

Smith posted his daughter’s moving gesture on his Imgur page, where it’s received almost 645,000 views in just two days.

“She’ll take an adult-like approach and it’s really amazing,” Smith said. “She is a typical little kid, but if she sees somebody in need, she certainly nurtures them. This made Ariana feel special and she’d definitely like to do it again.”

Original Article

Talking to her granddaughter, Jenna Bush Hager, the former First Lady, 87, reveals the loss she and former President George H. W. Bush experienced

Barbara Bush, former first lady and grandmother to reporter Jenna Bush Hager, has spoken about losing her three-year-old daughter to leukemia over half a century ago.

In an intimate interview with Jenna, the 87-year-old reveals the heartache she and former President George H. W. Bush, who is called ‘gampy’, experienced after little Robin Bush, Jenna’s aunt, was diagnosed with only two weeks to live.

‘I was combing her hair and holding her hand,’ Mrs Bush recalled on Today. ‘I saw that little body, I saw her spirit go.’

Born on December 20th, 1949, Robin was the youngest of three brothers; and two years younger than her brother, and future 43rd President, George W. Bush.

Jenna said, referring to Robin, who would be 63 years old if she were still alive today: ‘Gampy actually said recently he hopes when he passes away that’s who he will see first.’

‘It is who he’ll see first,’ said Mrs Bush.

‘She was quiet and gentle, and she had lovely little blond curls,’ she added.

At age three, Mrs Bush began to notice her daughter’s energy waning, and took her to the doctor for a simple check-up.

She said: ‘She was listless, she didn’t want to do anything, just wanted to rest, go out and watch cars go by, so I called the doctor and said, “Can I bring Robin out? I think she has spring fever,” and the doctor sort of laughed.

‘We went out and she had a few bruises on her and the doctor took a blood test and said I’ll call you.

‘She told that is Robin had leukemia. “What do you do for leukemia?” Well, she said, “You don’t do anything. She’s going to die,” and we said, “No, I don’t think so”. And she said, “My advice is take her home, love her and in about two weeks she will be gone.”

Instead, the couple took Robin across America to a hospital willing to try treatment on a child.

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