Credit: diane
From The Boogie
Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time. Sometimes you get to see someone's dream come true. Taylor Hicks was able to make Tally Wegiel's dream come true Saturday night at The Big E concert in West Springfield, MA.
Tally was diagnosed with a brain tumor two days before this last Christmas. She had biopsy surgery in January to determine what type of tumor it was and how to treat it. It was in the pituitary gland which pretty much destroyed it. The doctors decided on high dose chemotherapy, followed by radiation, and it was necessary for Tally and her mother to travel to Boston for the treatment. The chemo started in February and she was an inpatient every two weeks. Her last chemo was the end of June. Radiation was a daily thing in Boston for 5 weeks with the Proton Beam. Tally is 11 years old and an MRI last week showed that she is presently cancer free!
Because of the pituitary damage she will be on hormone replacement the rest of her life and she has Diabetes Insipidus. Her kidneys can't hold water on their own. Luckily there is medication for all the pituitary problems. But soon she will need to start growth hormone and also the female hormones to start her growing and blossoming.
Tally and Lynn Wegiel, her mother, who is a vocalist with the Blue House Band, watched American Idol and fell in love with Taylor Hicks. After Tally's surgery and treatment, there was no money for concert tickets to go to see Taylor when he came to Boston. And then it happened. Taylor scheduled a free concert appearance at The Big E Fair in West Springfield! Tally and her mom would get to see Taylor perform! They were ecstatic, but another wonderful thing was about to happen that completed this family's dream.
It was arranged that Tally and her mom have a personal meeting with Taylor before the show. He came over and greeted them so warmly, spoke to Lynn and then bent down to speak with Tally. Taylor was wearing a baseball cap, but when he bent down to speak with Tally, he removed his hat. I know this might be second nature for a Southern boy, but it sure charmed these Northern ladies!
During the show, I could see Taylor scan the audience looking for Tally and he even waved at her from the stage while he was singing. Near the end of the show, Taylor leaned over the edge of the stage and motioned to Tally that she should come up near the stage. And then he handed her his harmonica! Lynn wrote to me last week, “I thought the autographed picture someone got for us was a big deal, then meeting him, then the harmonica!!!! Honest to God what a gift!”
Front Page 
Subject: Taylor and Tally - a lovely story 
Thu Oct 11, 2007 2:39 am
