"He loves mail:" Washington family planning son's ninth birthday like it's his last, and you can help
WASHINGTON (WITI) -- Birthdays are a big deal when you are young. Usually kids dream big, hoping for a new bike or new video game system. But a Washington boy has a much simpler wish for his upcoming 9th birthday. He just just wants a little mail.
"He loves mail. Even if it's junk mail, we give it to him and we say 'here Bubby. Here's your mail!'" Bubby Everson's mom, Brandi McNerney-Everson told Seattle television station Q13 FOX News.
A simple card can make his day. A card with stickers?
"If there are stickers in it he loves it! He'll play with the stickers. He'll put stickers all over the place," Bubby's dad, Thomas Everson said.
Bubby's parents let him put those stickers anywhere he wants, on the walls, on the floors, on the windows. It's a reminder for them that each day he can do it is another day of life for their son.
Bubby contracted a virus at birth called Cytomegalovirus or CMV. Usually it`s harmless, but in very rare cases it can be devastating.
In Bubby's case, doctors say it will be fatal. It is only a matter of time.
Bubby uses cochlear implants to hear and wears casts on both feet to help with the scoliosis when he`s not in his wheelchair. But that's just where his troubles begin.
"The short list includes autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, deafness, scoliosis," Thomas Everson said.
On a bad day, Bubby can have as many as 10 seizures and uses a homemade safe space routinely.
"It`s very tough. I love him to death and I wouldn`t change him, but knowing that could lose him at any time -- that`s hard," Brandi McNerney-Everson said.
Doctors can`t give his parents an exact date, but they know he will die well before his time.
And that brings us back to Bubby's upcoming birthday. He turns nine on February 11th and his parents are hoping they'll have mail they can give him to help him celebrate his special day.
Bubby's parents know they must treat every birthday as if it will be the last they get to celebrate with their son.
"He`s happy and loving and he`s caring and he`s a fighter. I don`t think he`d be here if he wasn`t a fighter," Brandi McNerney-Everson said.
Still -- Brandi and Thomas don't want to leave anything to chance on this birthday. That's why they have begun asking everyone they meet if they would consider sending Bubby some mail for his special day.
They've set up a special post office box in their small town of Graham, Washington to collect what they receive so that on the big day they might be able to shower their son in cards and stickers.
"We`re blessed. I`m so glad we have the child that we have and have the life that we have because he`s amazing," Brandi McNerney-Everson said.
When it's all said and done, Bubby is really just an eight-year-old boy who is excited about his birthday.
If you would like to send a mail, cards, or stickers to Bubby for his birthday please consider sending them to the following address:
Bubby Everson
PO BOX 1142
Graham, Washington 98338
The family is also trying to raise money for a special sensory room for Bubby, for more information on that visit their online fundraising website.