This year has been extremely difficult for my family. In January my son was given a very serious diagnosis. The one silver lining was when we received word that the Make-A-Wish foundation would be sending his favorite actor, Jeffrey Dean Morgan aka Negan from The Walking Dead, to visit him in the hospital. Well JDM fulfilled my son’s wish when she showed up in character and things got… intense.
On the day of the scheduled visit my son Johnny was ecstatic! I should have been weary when a rattled nurse entered the room and nervously announced that we had a visitor. I mean she did have a little bit of blood on her sleeve but she’s a nurse so I brushed it off as an occupational hazard. Then entered Mr. Morgan or should I say Negan, because that’s who showed up.
At that point I was still optimistic. JDM is a well-known method actor. I mean, he even brought “Lucile,” the baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire he uses in the show. “What a cool prop!” I thought. Until I realized it was not a prop, but an actual baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.
“Mr. Morgan,” I said before he cut me off. He said, “Well what do we have here? Kid… you look like shit.”
Wow, what a great actor.
Related: 5 Moments From The Walking Dead Season 7 That Are Clearly Commentary on Trump Becoming President Because I Think TV Shows Are Made in Real Time
He continued with the remarks while he had me pinned to a chair with his bat. “Is this your dad, Johnny? He seems like he needs all of the wishes now. Yes sir, Dad must have some big ol’ balls calling a meeting with Negan. You got big ol’ balls, Dad?”
OK, that felt real.
By this time I could start to hear screams coming from the other parts of the hospital as a group of armed men led a small group of hospital staff into the room.
“Alright!” he said, “Line ‘em up!”
We were all on our knees, while my bedridden son could only watch, horrified, but he also had a bit of a look on his face like, “Well now you all know how I feel.” Wait, could my son have done this intentionally?
Everyone was on their knees and he looked at my son, extended the handle of his bat, and said “Here’s your wish. Have fun.”
Seconds later a voice rang out, “police, freeze!” I was so relieved until I realized the cop was just Andrew Lincoln showing up for another Make-a-Wish. He pointed his gun at Negan and then… well, then they just stopped talking and froze in place.
I was so shocked, I finally asked my son what he wished for. He said he wanted to be let down by a Walking Dead cliffhanger one last time. Thank you, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Lincoln, for making my son’s wish come true.
Oh, and he’s fine by the way. It turns out tonsillitis is not a life threatening condition.