A quote from Alice In Wonderland.
“There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen.
“When I was younger… Why sometimes, I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Something impossible is happening.
Alice is becoming the Queen.
What does it mean to believe in impossible things? Along my road of twenty-three-eighty years of waiting for a real children’s hospital, it means that I have imagined the impossible work of hospital-building . It’s an exercise in patience and humility, but if the Queen can do it six times before breakfast…
I walked among Richmond’s courtiers in a stately, landmark castle, and I heard some news. The Power People have signed a “Memorandum of understanding to negotiate…” something. I didn’t quite catch all the words. My mind was wandering to the possibility of impossible things.
Thunderous applause drew me back to the moment. True Luck, was speaking of dreams becoming visions and then after that… reality. She offered a million dollars to pay for reality, and another foundation followed suit with a million more. (Note to self: fact check. Is this a new announcement?) Matching donations followed, and suddenly, more than five million dollars was promised to buy my impossible dream.
When the Queen’s better half took his turn to speak, I felt a tug at my heartstrings when he called her ‘my bride.’ Love does conquer all. They both have come to understand the power of imagining impossible things.
They both know King Kelly O’Keefe, too. With his court of Creatives from the VCU Brandcenter, and like me twenty-five years ago, they spoke, energized by the impossible becoming possible. They promised to package the impossible dream so more people could share it.
At the end of the evening, Alice spoke of her own decades-old impossible dream: “a hospital created with hope, trust and respect… full of goodness and love.” Alice is becoming the Queen of my impossible dreams… and just in time for breakfast.
Gayle Schrier Smith, MD
