Inspiration

Inside the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum, you’ll find hundreds of visitors, all learning the history behind ballooning and its ties to Albuquerque.Of the visitors inside, are Sam and Joseph Jarvis. The father and son from Washington State are in town for the first time.”Sam’s wish, because of his love for balloons, was to come down to Albuquerque. We didn’t know anything really much about it, but we knew the balloon festival was here,” said Joseph.Sam is 23 and loves clocks, people and of course hot air balloons. His wish is being granted thanks to the Wishing Star Foundation. It’s a non-profit that began in 1983 and has granted more than 600 wishes to children who are battling life-threatening illnesses.”When he was born, he had pulmonary hypertension, and because of that, he was in the hospital very seriously, almost passed away when he was young. Because of that, he ended up with cerebral palsy,” said Joseph. Sam’s love for hot air balloons started when he was younger after seeing one fly over his house. The family was able to meet the pilot, who ended up taking Sam on a ride. “That kind of sealed the deal for Sam being just absolutely in love with balloons,’ said Joseph.Sam will get to enjoy a second ride in a hot air balloon. This time, at the world’s largest ballooning event with roughly 500 other balloons in the air at the same time.Sam told KOAT he’s not nervous at all and is excited to go up. The duo, got a small taste of Balloon Fiesta Friday morning attending Albuquerque Aloft. “He’ll go through a full range of emotions on his face from a smile to scared. You could see him kind of getting emotional about it,” said Joseph.There are seven kids in the Jarvis family, three of which have disabilities. Joseph told KOAT, his family is perfect.”A lot of people would consider a child with disabilities to not be a blessing. And we have definitely grown to learn that it is 100% a blessing,” said Joseph. “We wouldn’t want Sam any other way. We are. We are truly blessed about how he looks at life. He looks at it from a lens of simplicity and with joy.”If you have the chance to meet Sam, you’ll be caught in a conversation about cars, pets and his love for ballooning. By the time you’re done, you’ll have the biggest smile on your face. It’s something his balloon pilot will experience on Saturday morning.”We’re going to go up with Captain Mark … is what we were told. And we’re really excited,” said Joseph. “Mark, is going to get his ear talked off by Sam. Sam will know everything about Captain Mark by the time we’re done.”Sam is a reminder that wishes do come true.