By Bill Forry

Tom Menino makes for a pretty easy target these days. Half of the city's unions are at war with him, threatenting to make his July shindig at the Fleet Center a picket-line nightmare. There's been trouble on the inside, too. One of his trusted lieutenants resigned in disgrace last month and several others were implicated in a parking ticket-fixing scam.

But, if there's a cloud over his head, you'd never have known it Saturday night. Tom Menino was beaming as he and his wife Angela stepped aboard the Spirit of Boston for an appearance at the Mattapan Health Center's annual fundraiser. And it wasn't the buffet line that had him grinnin'.

The mayor's mood was buoyed by a day spent with a remarkable nine-year old boy from Roslindale named Spencer Murray. Spencer and his dad, Dan, spent their Saturday riding shotgun with the mayor, zipping from one special event to another, all in fulfillment of a special request made by Spencer.

Since birth, Spencer has suffered from an illness so rare that his doctors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have not yet found a name for it. They say it may be unique to the little third-grader. With just one working lung and a misplaced heart, Spencer is stricken with severe asthma and has undergone nine experimental surgeries in an effort to correct his problems. To top it all off, Spencer's mom, Sue, a nurse at Brigham and Women's Hospital, was diagnosed last year with pancreatic cancer, a terrible disease that has devasated the already burdened Murray family.

Not that there haven't been some amazing moments. Three years ago, Spencer flew down to Orlando to meet Spiderman, courtesy of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. But Spencer's grown up a bit since then - and by last year, he had a new interest: police officers. Dan Murray himself was a deputy sheriff for 10 years - until he retired early to help care for his stricken son and bride. And now Spencer's one and only dream is that he'll wear the blue one day, just like his dad did.

Last fall, Spencer wrote a letter to one of his father's pals on the Boston Police Department, Captain Tim Murray, and asked if he could drop by the stationhouse one day to check things out. Instead of a quick tour and a lollipop, the men and women of the BPD did something amazing: They organized a day that Spencer will never forget. After a tour of the Hyde Park district E police station, Spencer was shuttled into Faneuil Hall where Officers Alvarez and Garcia had a mounted unit waiting for him.

"These guys put him on the horse, all by himself, and walked him all around Faneuil Hall. It was teriffic," Dan Murray remembers.

Then it was over to Schroeder Plaza, where the BPD brass had passed the word of Spencer's visit and treated him like royalty.

"He was sworn in as a sergeant, badge and all," says the proud father. "Everywhere we went, the door was open and they gave him a present."

One of the cops, Officer Garcia, swapped hats with Spencer and, as he dropped him off at home after his day "on the job," Spencer offered the policeman's lid back to him.

"He said, 'No you keep it,'" says Dan, who still gets choked up about the cops' unbelievable generosity that day.

But that was just the start. In the last few months, Spencer's received calls pretty much every week from other law enforcement agencies that'd heard of his interest - and his plight. The MBTA, State Police, Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, Boston College Police, even the Secret Service. They've all hosted Spencer Murray for a few hours in the last months and weeks. When the State Police heard that Spencer was wearing Boston sergeant stripes, they did them one better. They made him a Major and requistioned a pair of boots and a broad-brimmed hat for the little boy.

"They've all completely outfitted him with patches, stripes, even the gun belt. He has everything."

When Tom Menino's office got wind of Spencer's request to have his picture taken with Hizzoner, the mayor's office called Dan Murray with even better news: Menino wanted to spend a day with Spencer.

"He'll act as his security for the day," the mayor's staff told them.

And so he did. Menino picked Spencer and Dan Murray up at 9:15 a.m. last Saturday and began one of Menino's typical break-neck sweeps through Boston's neighborhoods. Together they hit five or six events back-to-back, including the opening day of Savin Hill's Little League, where Menino threw out the first pitch with Spencer - decked out in his Boston Police summer uniform - close at hand.

"The mayor kept him right beside him the whole time," says Dan Murray. "Spencer was in every single photo. The mayor pulled him right up and had him with him the whole time and introduced him to every single person who was there."

One of the people Menino introduced to Spencer was Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, who promised to give the young Sox fan a behind-the-scenes tour of Fenway, including a dugout visit. The whirlwind day continued from there: a stop at the BPD's Bomb Squad, where Spencer tried on equipment that's three times heavier than he is soaking wet. Next, it was the IBEW Hall on Freeport Street, where Menino was officially elected to the Massachusetts delegation for the convention. After that, a stop at Phillips Candy House on the Boulevard to pick up some treats for Spencer and his mom. Then, over the C.F. Donovan's - a favored Menino Dot haunt - for clam chowder, shrimp, and a homemade sundae.

What's next, a ride in the Dot Day Parade? You guessed it.

You can look for Spence on the Avenue June 6, where he'll be the special guest of the police.

Not bad, huh?

It's easy to forget that all of these amazing gestures are triggered by tragedy and heartache. On June 16, Spencer's due to undergo his 10th surgery in as many years, something that the little guy doesn't really like to talk about. Instead, he'll tell you the good news: He's getting a lift to the hopsital from Jim Davis, one of the boys at Area A-1, who'll have the lights and sirens going full blast for little Spencer Murray.

No wonder Tom Menino was a grinning fool on Saturday night. According to Spencer Murray, your mayor is even better than the amazing Spiderman.

"Just being with the mayor was the best part of the day," Spencer told me this week. "I want to go with the mayor again to Donovan's someday."

Something tells me it's already on the mayor's schedule.

Editor's note: The friends of the Murray family have organized a fundraiser to help defray costs of treating both Spencer and his mom, Sue. The event will be held this Friday, May 7 at the Jacob Jones VFW Post in Dedham. For more information, call Kathy Brinket at 617-361-8551.