By Brett Michael Dykes
When the Make-A-Wish Foundation asked cancer-stricken 6-year-old Enzo Pereda what wish they could fulfill for him, his response was, well, atypical for a boy his age: He wanted to cook with Ina Garten, cookbook author and host of the Food Network's "Barefoot Contessa." Enzo said that he'd developed a fondness for Garten and her show because he would often watch it with his mother from his sickbed.
But sadly, the fresh food maven declined to meet the boy from Portland, Oregon. Twice.
According to TMZ, Make-A-Wish approached Garten with Enzo's request last year. She replied that she couldn't make time to visit him, mainly because of a scheduled book tour. The group then urged Enzo — who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia three years ago — to make another wish. But he insisted on waiting until Garten became available. When Make-A-Wish tried once more to schedule a meeting between the two, Garten again rebuffed the overture, still pleading hectic demands on her schedule.
"I felt terrible for him, he has been unwavering in his desire to meet her for 3 years and despite many attempts to get him to pick a 2nd wish or change his mind he would not," Enzo's mother wrote on her blog. "Even yesterday when I told him the unfortunate news, his reply was simply 'why doesn't she want to meet me'?"
Finally convinced he'd never get to meet Garten, Enzo gave up on his dream and allowed Make-A-Wish to coordinate an alternative for him: to swim with dolphins.
In explaining the situation, a spokesperson for Garten told TMZ that "despite her demanding schedule, [Ina] participates and helps as many organizations as she can throughout the year, helping children and adults like Enzo with life-threatening and compromising illnesses. Unfortunately, as much as she would like to, it's absolutely impossible for her to grant every request she receives."
But after the news of Enzo's thwarted wish broke across the Web, Garten has made a sudden about-face. She invited Enzo to meet with her on the set of her show.
"Ina became aware of Enzo's story this weekend and will be calling him today," a spokesperson for Garten told ABC News in a statement released yesterday. "She looks forward to inviting him to spend some time with her at the Food Network studios."
Meanwhile, Make-A-Wish is moving forward to make Enzo's other dream come true. He's reportedly been taking swimming lessons — and his mother says he sleeps in his swimsuit every night — in anticipation of his big day in the water with dolphins. He also continues to fight the cancer that has invaded his body.
"Enzo is NOT dying or terminal," his mother recently wrote. "He IS very sick but he is VERY MUCH alive and the most ALIVE person I have EVER known!"
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Gee wonder why she changed her mind?
