Princess makeover, ice show part of wish come true

Four-year-old Genevieve Verville entered the Colorado Springs World Arena on Thursday afternoon in denim overalls and pink tennis shoes, each of her middle fingers adorned with a faux sapphire ring.

Little did the Colorado Springs girl know she’d leave dressed as a Disney princess, her street clothes replaced with a frilly pastel dress and glittery ballet flats, a silver crown floating atop a sea of dark ringlets that had hung straight upon her arrival.

By the time her transformation was complete, only her rings and smile remained the same.

Genevieve’s royal treatment was provided courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado and Disney on Ice, which teamed to provide the young cancer patient and Disney princesses fan with a princess makeover, a chance to meet Belle from “Beauty and the Beast,” and VIP seats at Thursday’s showing of “Disney On Ice: Princess Classics.”

“Who wouldn’t want to help a little kid get their hair and makeup done?” said Michelle Peralta, a Viva Salon cosmetologist who, along with coworker Tracy May, donated her time to provide hair and makeup services. “They may not remember your name, but they’ll remember what happened.”

Make-A-Wish had granted Genevieve’s true wish — to visit Disney World — last spring, said her mother, Monica, who had kept the afternoon’s events a secret from her daughter.

Thursday’s surprise was what Make a Wish Colorado spokeswoman Melissa Morris refers to as a “wish enhancement” — an added bonus that “keeps the good times going” for children with life-threatening medical conditions before or after a wish is granted.

Genevieve was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in 2007 when her doctor discovered a malignant tumor at her six-month checkup. She spent the latter half of her first year of life in chemotherapy for the cancer that most commonly affects young children.

The treatment appears to have worked: Genevieve has been in remission for more than three years.

If she can make it to Nov. 16, 2012 — her sixth birthday — without a reoccurrence of cancer, her mother says she’ll be considered a “cured patient.”

“Birthdays, to us, mean the world,” Monica said. “When she was originally diagnosed, we just wanted her to get better. We didn’t know what the outcome was going to be, but we had faith. We just focused on, ‘How do we get her better?’

“To see her enjoying little things like this,” she said, pausing to look at her daughter, “it just means everything. Every moment just means so much more.”