Landen Fitzgerald-Green was stuck inside Akron Children’s Hospital with leukemia last year when the Polar Express chugged its way from the Northside Station bound for the North Pole without him.
The 6-year-old Youngstown boy’s chemotherapy runs through October 2018, his mom and dad said. But Wednesday, bundled in his Batman pajamas, Landen made it to the train. And just like all the other children bound for Santa’s homeland, Landen was in awe.
As the train slowed, Landen pressed his hands against the window and jockeyed with his 4-year-old brother, Aiden — dressed in a Santa hat and Spider-Man PJs — for a better view of the North Pole.
Outside, one elf in green and red appeared. Then a dozen elves. Then 200 more. They were bigger than most elves in books and movies, closer to his mom and dad’s size. And they were jumping up and down, waving and cheering for Landen and the other children on the Polar Express, like they were rock stars the elves had been waiting a lifetime to see.
“Look!” Landen told Aiden pointing out the window toward an elf blowing soap bubbles from a ring. “Look!” Landen said again, pointing to someone who looked just like Dr. Seuss’s Christmas Grinch. “Look!” Landen said, finally spying the elf everyone hoped to see, the jolly old elf himself, Santa.
This is the 23rd year the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad has made the arduous North Pole journey, a Polar Express trip so precious it must be licensed through a company called Rail Events.
The train ride is based on The Polar Express, a book and film of the same name.
It tells the story of a young boy who no longer believes in Santa. One day, the boy hears a train whistle blow and ends up riding to the North Pole with other children, all dressed in pajamas. When the train arrives, Santa offers the boy anything he wants and the boy chooses a bell from a reindeer harness, a bell that only true believers can hear ring.
On Wednesday, two trains from Northeast Ohio left for the North Pole (Peninsula) traveling from opposite directions: One left from the Northside Station near Luigi’s in Akron; the other from the Rockside Station in Independence.
About 800 children and their families received free tickets to ride, including more than 350 patients and their families from Akron Children’s Hospital.
Landen and Aiden — and parents Walter Green and Lisa Fitzgerald-Green — rode in Car 4, which was for patients from the hospital’s Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders.
The boys shared a window with Joslyn Livers, a 4-year-old Akron girl wearing pink, footed penguin PJs and carrying Teddy, her small, stuffed bear that smells of lavender. Joslyn is a veteran North Pole adventurer.
Wednesday marked her third Polar Express, and she’s been looking forward to the ride for weeks, mom Crystal Livers said. Joslyn’s long, blonde ponytail hides a scar that runs from the base of her neck into her hairline. She has neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumors to form anywhere on nerve tissue.
Doctors removed a tumor from her cerebellum and, 120 days later, they removed a second tumor from the same spot, only it had grown deeper into her brain, Crystal Livers said. Nov. 17 marked the second anniversary of Joslyn’s surgery.
When Santa — the same Santa who captured national attention while cheering on the Indians at home World Series games — boarded the train, he spent time with each family, offering children silver bells from his reindeer harnesses and asking them what they want for Christmas.
Landen asked for Pie Face, a game that includes a device players load with whipped cream. Players pass the device and turn its handles until someone — you never know who — gets splattered in the face with whipped cream.
Aiden asked for a green yo-yo.
And Joslyn asked for a My Little Pony castle.
Word on the North Pole streets Wednesday was that Santa would make good on each of those wishes.
The children’s parents said some of their holiday wishes have already been fulfilled.
Lisa Fitzgerald-Green said her mother died in January from the same type of leukemia that Landen has. As the family gathered at her bedside, Lisa’s mom told the Greens she would be Landen’s guardian angel and also work from beyond to bring the Greens a daughter to go with their four sons.
Lisa is due to give birth in June, 18 months after her mom’s passing. The Greens are hoping for a girl.
Crystal Livers’ gift, meanwhile, arrived unexpectedly three days ago while she and Joslyn were watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas on TV.
“Joslyn just looked up at me and said, ‘Mommy, when I was in heaven with God I wished for you as a mommy,’ ” Crystal Rivers said. “I just looked at her and told her that I always wished for her as a daughter, too.”
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.