What a great weekend! Friday night, we joined our friends, Dan and Melanie Roach at their new gymnastics gym to wish Melaine well as she heads to China (in a week) to compete in the Olympics! It was also a chance to kick off the Autism Speaks Walk, which was being held in Tacoma the next morning, as Melanie was an Honorary Chairperson for that event. (You can learn more about awesome Melanie at www.melanieroach.com). It was a great party...a bounce house for the kids (sorry, P, not for you), hot dogs, cotton candy, a chance to try out the gymnastics gym, and hear from several speakers, notably Congressman Dan Reichert, seen here.
Saturday morning, we were at Cheney Stadium a little after 9 am to get geared up for our big 3K walk! ;) There were bounce houses again, more treats (gotta carb-up!), lots of booths full of helpful information, resources, and studies going on about autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and lots of music, bubbles, and enthusiasm.
Here, Melanie spoke to the crowd again, though it was much larger this time. It made me teary when she spoke of her son being diagnosed with autism just a few years ago, and how the doctor wrote a name on a post-it and basically said, "good luck." Autism Speaks has quickly become a mighty force for help, change, and hope in countless families and I'm so grateful for them and all the organizations that work with them in researching the cause(s), treatments, and cures for autism.
DID YOU KNOW:
1 in 150 children are diagnosed each year with autism?
Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disorder in the US?
That more children are diagnosed with autism than pediatric diabetes, cancer, and AIDS combined?
Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases?
For more information about autism, I highly recommend spending some time at www.autismspeaks.org!
ANYWAY...
Here are your favorite 3 curly girls together, but the littlest one then stayed at the stadium with Daddy (to do a lot more bouncing and playing with the 'gak' at a sensory table!) and M and I were off. A guy walking behind us said, "Hey, can I see your camera for a minute?" and took these pictures for us (breaking my rule about 'NO pictures of me from behind!').
The walk went through a nature preserve and it was full of beautiful trees and flowers. M was particularly excited by these purple, taller-than-her flowers, and she liked the bridge and lily pads, too. It was the perfect setting for a nature lover like her!
The walk took almost exactly an hour, which was exactly right for us. I don't know how many people participated, but when I spoke with the manager of the walk the night before at Melanie's shindig, she told me they were planning on 1000. I think there were more than that there. I spoke to Melaine's husband, Dan, later that afternoon (at a birthday party with yet ANOTHER bouncy toy- busy Saturday!) and he said that last year, they raised $40,000, and as of that morning, they were at $70,000 and still counting! WOOHOO!
It meant so much to me to be with all these people and families who have autism in common. As M and I walked along, we were talking about the different studies about how people get autism and how scientists and doctors are working on therapies and cures that can help people. And she said,
"Mom, even if someone gave me a pill and said, 'Here. Take this. It will cure your Asperger's Syndrome,' I wouldn't take it."
"Why?" I asked, already feeling the tears well up in my eyes.
"Because it would totally change who I am. This is who I am. I like myself this way."
Yes, my dear one. You are a gem. There are times that you don't feel that way, and that's ok, because for one awesome morning, you were at peace with yourself, and that is a precious feeling. I hope you can continue to feel that way again and again as we try our best to help you learn and grow.
Thanks to all who supported our fundraising efforts. We look forward to participating in these walks again, so if you didn't get to contribute this time, don't worry...there will be more opportunities! ;)
6 comments:
Great post. I got a little choked up just reading it and hope to have that conversation with our son someday. He's doing well. Wonder if they could make a pill that would prevent loud objections of "I DON'T WANT TO" to everything. It was bad enough at church today that miscellaneous people were nodding empathetically and saying things like "hang in there, Dad". :-)
What an awesome fundraiser and I always appreciate you sharing the facts and newest things about autism. . .it definitely is something that needs to be brought attention to. And as far as "no pictures from behind" it actually is a cute little picture to see you and M walking together!
I loved the pics..M looks so wonderful too. I love that one of her and the flowers, the look on her face is priceless :) I couldn't help but get all chokey just thinking of how far you've all come and how many beautiful things are happening in your lives..namely a little girl who knows who she is and because of that, will carry that on to every person she encounters- now THAT is amazing. Good job Curly mom and a not so curly dad!
Hey- I found your blog through Sonnet and I hope you mind me reading. It's fun to see how you guys are doing and Parker likes to keep on how M is doing. Anyway, I just read a great article about Melanie in the LDS Living Magazine. When I mentioned to Parker that M knows her he said, "That's cool that M knows an Olympic athlete!"-Amy Welch
That was really inspiring to read, to have your children involved with you so that they understand more about the world and what many families go through. M is quite a gal (love that expression on her face near the flowers), and you are quite the mom. I'm glad that it went well.
sounds like a great walk!
and what a perfect conversation to have.
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