Throughout time, the unabashed excitement of making a wish has almost always been associated in some capacity with destruction. Whether it’s blowing out the candles on a birthday cake (snuffing fire) or puffing the hundred floating florids off a dandelion, the act of bringing a wish into existence often entails a symbolic act of destruction and rebirth. So it’s no wonder a 7 year old boy battling cancer would want his make a wish to embody a macro variation of a boyhood instinct — full scale demolition!
If you could have any wish in the world, it seems awfully silly, almost a down right waste to spend it on blowing up a building. And yet, I find it an incredibly poignant wish. He can’t wish to fly like superman or climb building like Spidey. He can’t wish for world peace and have it delivered to his hospital room. He can’t even wish to have the cancer that is making him sick burst into flames and disappear from the city streets of his heart. But he can push a big red button and watch a huge building explode. And for a boy of any age, that is pretty damn awesome!
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