I recieved an e-mail from Ric Miller, Owen Miller's father. thos of you who participated in the Make-A-Wish troop in Pioneer Square should remember him. ANyway, Ricj sent me a ltter he asked me to post for the whole garrison to read. He also sent me 10 pics of Owen in his kids TC armor. I will post his e-mail (because it contains some news about Owen's medical status) and letter in their entirety and attempt to include the pics in this post................so without further ado
E-mailHi Will,
This is Rich Miller, Owen Miller?s dad. The Make-a-Wish folks were kind enough to send me your contact information so that we could contact you and say thank you for everything that that the Cloud City Garrison did to make Owen?s send-off party in Pioneer Square very, very special.
Attached is a note that I would like to get to the group, and I am hoping you can pass it along to everyone that was involved in making Owen?s stormtrooper outfit and everyone who participated in the party. Helen Rabold at Make-a-Wish suggested that I send the letter to you and you would help circulate it to everyone else. I hope that is correct.
I also have some photos of Owen dressed up in the costume that I think you guys might like. I will send them in followup notes just to make sure the large files don?t interfere with this first note. If you don?t get any subsequent notes with photos, please let me know and I will mail you a CD instead.
By the way, we got some very good news this week. Owen has quarterly scans now that his chemotherapy is over, and he had his first set of quarterly scans earlier this week. His oncologists and radiologists don?t see any new cancer growing since he finished chemo treatments, which is a very good sign. The first few quarters are the most important, and the fact that they don?t see anything worrisome in his lungs or abdomen is a big relief.
Thank you very much for circulating this note to the group and I hope you like the photos. J
--Rich
LetterTo: Will Emond & The Cloud City Garrison
501st Legion
From: Rich and Lisa Miller
Date: July 4, 2008
Hi Cloud City Garrison,
This is Rich, Lisa, Owen and Sela Miller ? the Make-a-Wish family you met in Pioneer Square for Owen?s Destination Joy party.
Now that we are back from Owen?s Wish trip, we wanted to send you a letter thanking you for all of the time and effort and care you put into making Owen?s party so memorable and making him feel so special. He is usually a non-stop talker (trust us!), but he was speechless when you all came out of the Max train.
When he went back to school the next day, his teacher showed some video of the event to the class and they went cuckoo. A couple of the boys (who are big Star Wars fans, too) were convinced that real stormtroopers had landed in Pioneer Square!
When we were at Disneyworld, Owen got to meet some 501st Legion members from Florida who participated in the daily Star Wars parade in the park. Owen even got to march with them in the parade in an Obie-Wan Kenobi-style cape. But when we got back from the trip the first thing he wanted to do was put on the costume you made for him. He truly, truly loves it.
He wears the chest plate and codpiece all over town?and when we go somewhere where he can?t wear those, he just wears the gloves with the armor plating, which may be his favorite part of the costume. He is even kind enough to let his little sister Sela wear parts of the costume sometimes, too. She?s only 2 ?, but she?s already a big Star Wars fan thanks to Owen and she likes wearing the helmet.
At the event in Pioneer Square, I think you only had a chance to see Owen in the chestplate and helmet, so we wanted to send you some photos so you can see how he looks fully outfitted as a member of the Imperial Army.
Thank you again for everything you did to make that day so wonderful for Owen and for making a costume that lets him re-live it every day. We can only imagine how much work went into making all of the individual pieces of the armor, plus the time you devoted to being part of the event. We sincerely appreciate everything you did and if you see a 4-foot tall storm trooper walking around town, be sure to say hello. Owen will be so happy to see you again!
--Rich Miller Owen Miller
