BREMERTON — Living in a nightmare world dominated by a terminal disease, Karen Fletcher, 61, of Bremerton, had a sweet dream come true.

She, along with her children and grandchildren, traveled to California in October to visit the “Happiest Place on Earth” — Disneyland — thanks to the Dream Foundation.

“It meant so much,” Fletcher said. “Neither of my grandkids had ever been there. That’s the main reason I wanted to go there, so I could be with them. It was so big.”

Fletcher was diagnosed in early 2016 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive, fatal disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

“It’s the worst disease for anyone to get,” she said. “I was on a walker for a while, but now I’m in a wheelchair, and it’s not fun.

“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

Then Fletcher was told about the Dream Foundation, the only national dream-granting program for terminally ill adults.

“My daughter and her father-in-law have cancer,” Fletcher said. “He’s the one who told her about it, so she pushed and pushed and pushed me. I didn’t want to do it, but after I got to thinking about it, I thought, I’m going to do this, and we’re going to Disneyland.”

Fletcher went with her two daughters, her son-in-law and her two grandchildren, who are 9 and 2.

“We all stayed together in a hotel room, which was awesome,” she said, “right across the street from Disneyland. The people had a party for me up on the roof of the hotel.

“They were all so nice. It was a lot of fun. I’ve never had anything like this.”

The first ride the family went on at Disneyland was Pirates of the Caribbean. Fletcher’s grandchildren went on the Peter Pan ride. The family rode the carousel. Fletcher said that though she couldn’t ride many of the theme park’s rides, she enjoyed watching her grandchildren experience Disneyland for the first time.

“That’s the main reason why I went,” she said. “It was so much fun to see them getting so exciting.”

Her 9-year-old grandson even got to “fight” with the cast of Star Wars, most notably, Kylo Ren.

“He was so excited,” Fletcher said.

Her daughter even stayed a few extra days so Fletcher’s granddaughter could meet all the Disney princesses.

The Dream Foundation began in 1993 when founder Thomas Rollerson spoke with “a dream-granting agency and discovered no such place existed to honor the final dreams of adults,” said Dani Cordaro, public relations consultant for the Dream Foundation.

“One year later, inspired by his late partner, Timothy Scott Palmer, and with the support of his community, he created Dream Foundation,” Cordaro said.

Dream Foundation provides both social and emotional support for terminally ill adults 18 and older, with a diagnosis of one year or less. The support is tailored to fit the terminally ill adults and their families that they help. Dreams they help come true can be as simple as paying bills to relieve financial support or arranging for someone to meet their personal hero, Cordaro said.

“At Dream Foundation, we believe that everyone deserves to have their final days filled with inspiration, comfort and closure,” Cordaro said.

“We have never turned down a qualified Dream applicant. We have given life to more than 25,000 final dreams over the past two decades.”

Fletcher’s now at home with her family and is taking life, and her disease, day by day.

“It seems like it’s getting worse and worse every week,” she said, “but I pray to God every day. I just pray he’s going to take it away from me, and he might.”

Michelle Beahm is a reporter for the Central Kitsap Reporter and Bremerton Patriot. She can be reached at mbeahm@soundpublishing.com.

Karen Fletcher, 61, hugs her 2-year-old granddaughter at a party held in her honor at the Grand Legacy Hotel in California. Kelly Sweda Photography / Dream Foundation