Jennifer Hargis is a dreamer. And this 21-year-old cancer survivor from Bow would be quick to tell you that dreams — even the wildest dreams — can sometimes come true.
Jenni always dreamed of meeting her favorite actor, Tom Hanks. Several months ago her good friend Jackie, a fellow cancer survivor, decided to try to make Jenni’s dream a reality. Jackie had received a childhood wish from the Make-a-Wish Foundation, but because of Jennifer’s age when she was diagnosed with cancer — nine months, 18 years and 20 years — she never qualified for a “Wish.”
But that didn’t stop Jackie. She located the Dream Foundation, http://www.dreamfoundation.org, a Los Angeles-based charity that grants “dreams” to terminally ill adults. At Jackie’s urging, Jennifer contacted the foundation about arranging for her to meet Tom Hanks. A meeting was deemed impossible, due to Hanks’ busy schedule, but the foundation offered Jennifer her second choice — to see a professional musical production with her family.
In May, the Dream Foundation flew Jenni, her sisters Bethany and Rebecca, and another friend to Los Angeles to see a performance of “Wicked,” the musical based on the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz. Jenni and company stayed in a posh hotel, toured famous Hollywood sites, including Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and went to a taping of the Ellen show, where Jenni was invited backstage to meet Ellen DeGeneres.
“I have never danced so much in my life,” Jenni said of the pre-show warm-up. “So much in fact that I was chosen to go up front and lead the audience in my dancing. Then ... I DID dance with Ellen!”
The morning prior to the “Wicked” performance, the Dream Foundation offered Jenni a tour of Sony Picture Studios. Her entourage was escorted by Dream Foundation president Tom Rollerson, while visiting the sets of TV shows “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune” and the soundstages where Indiana Jones and Tom Hanks’ hit movie Castaway were filmed.
“I was so excited to have been in the same room that Tom Hanks had been in,” Jenni said.
Jenni’s group was invited into one of the studios “for snacks” during a break in the tour. As her eyes adjusted to the darker indoor space, Jenni said she noticed Rollerson across the room talking with someone — it was Tom Hanks, the very actor she had dreamed of meeting.
“He looks at me and asks: ‘Want a snack?’ Never in my life have I been so completely stunned,” said Jenni. “Tom Hanks hugged me!”
And what about Jennifer’s other “dream” — the performance of “Wicked”? “Wicked was amazing” she said. “It was awesome, awesome and awesome.”
Jenni’s short visit to “la-la land” must have been a dream-come-true for the Dream Foundation as well; they asked Jenni to become an ambassador.
“Jenni is a profoundly articulate young woman,” said Rollerson. “A positive shining light. She wasn’t content to just receive her ‘dream.’ She wanted to give back, to pay it forward.”
Jenni and her mother, Ruth Hargis, were flown back to Los Angeles in June, where Jenni spoke about her dream to the Foundation’s sponsors and corporate and celebrity supporters at the Foundation’s Dream Maker’s Circle Reception.
“She took a jaded L.A. crowd and paralyzed them,” Rollerson said. “She told her story and, for a few moments, they understood what it’s like to live with illness.” Jenni added several more celebrities to her circle of friends and made an appearance on TV show Entertainment Tonight.
Jenni is continuing experimental chemotherapy treatment for leiomyosarcoma at Children’s Hospital in Seattle. The plucky cancer survivor is also a student at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, working on an associate of science degree. She plans to transfer to the University of Washington or Seattle Pacific University in the fall of 2009 to earn a degree in nursing.
“I hope to someday work as a nurse at Children’s Hospital in their hematology/oncology clinic,” she said.
• Newsroom clerk John Cumbow contributed to this report.
Dreams can come true — just ask Jenni
Submitted Photo
Cancer survivor Jennifer Hargis, 21, of Burlington experienced her lifelong dream in May, when she met actor Tom Hanks in Los Angeles.
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