Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I love/hate this time of year.

**this has been widely cross posted around my universe, sorry for any duplication**

Well, folks, the time is here again.
For the fourth year in a row, our family will be walking in the Down Syndrome Guild of Southeast Michigan Buddy Walk. If you are not familiar with the Buddy Walk or what it's about, here's a short summary: Buddy Walks are held all across the country each year to celebrate the lives of people with Down syndrome and those who love them. It is a fund raising event for the Down syndrome community. Last year, millions of dollars were raised in the United States through the efforts of individuals with Down syndrome and their families.

But that's the company line, and if you know me, you know I'm not about the company line.

See, we walk for Ben.

You know about Ben, right? Ben Randall, my son, was born in February 2006. Yes, he had four heart defects. Yes, he also had Down syndrome. You know about the hospice, the NICU, the fact that we were supposed to have only two short weeks with him. You also know that I don't use words like miracle lightly and that Ben was nothing short of a Miracle. With a capital M.

You know he lived two years, traveled, laughed, went to school, made googly eyes at pretty girls, and had the largest capacity for joy of anyone I've ever met. You also know that we lost him after more time than we were supposed to have, but less time than we wanted to have.

It goes without saying that we were not the only ones to love him.

So each year since Ben was born, and now after his death, we walk to honor his memory and celebrate the lives of people with Down syndrome and their families. We walk to remember how life changing the diagnosis of Down syndrome was for us, but in all the ways we didn't expect.

Please visit our buddy walk fund raising page at http://tinyurl.com/benbuddywalk. You can make a donation, sign up to walk with us, or just look at a picture of an incredibly cute little boy.

Thanks.

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