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Wishes Come True for Two Texas Girls

Texas Game Wardens and Coastal Fisheries staff helped make wishes come true this summer for a couple of critically ill Texas girls.

Natalee McCaleb, an 8-year-old from Corsicana, has cystic fibrosis and dreams of becoming a game warden when she grows up. Turns out, she didn’t have to wait that long. Natalee was sworn in as a Junior Texas Game Warden in June as part of her wish granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which serves critically ill children.

In Port Isabel, local game wardens including Calvin Atkinson swore in Natalee and gave her a certificate and a pair of cowboy boots. Her first assignment: take out their 85-foot patrol boat and find some dolphins. It was mission accomplished as Natalee steered through the Brownsville Ship Channel (with a little help, of course) and successfully spotted several dolphins.

“She was on cloud nine the whole time,” Atkinson says. “The enjoyment on her face, the smile she had, definitely made our day.”

Five-year-old Lake Jackson native Juliana “Juju” is mesmerized watching fish swim in her home aquarium and dreams of one day visiting the largest aquarium in the United States. Juju, who experiences respiratory failure, had her wish granted in July, also thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Coastal Fisheries staff, joined by Texas Game Wardens and the Buc-ees beaver, draped Sea Center Texas in shimmering pink fringe and rolled out the blue carpet to reveal that Juju and her family will travel to Atlanta, Georgia, to see the nation’s largest aquarium. When the family entered the parking lot at Sea Center, they were welcomed in by flashing game warden patrol lights.

“It was great to be part of the surprise and be there for her and her family,” says Texas Game Warden Carter Rangel.

Inside, volunteers lined up along a blue carpet leading to Sea Center’s largest aquarium to reveal her wish. The facility was closed for the day, so Juju and her family had exclusive access to the aquarium and hatchery.

“They had a special tour of the hatchery and got to feed the flounder in the tanks,” says Juliana Moore, program specialist at Sea Center Texas. “They really had fun interacting with the fish.”

Afterward, they fished in the 8-acre pond, which houses red drum, black drum, sheepshead and spotted seatrout.

“They were able to catch some really big red drum,” Moore says. “Everyone caught at least one fish.”