The Walk.

Chillin' in style with our jiimmy-rigged umbrella.

This is Carol.

She made it on my blog

because....

I walked up and saw all the families and.....

may or may not have started the ugly cry.

She was a volunteer who: 

A) Saw this.

B) Didn't walk away shaking her head at the lunatic.

C) Hugged me.

D)Kept nonchalantly checking on me 

to make sure I held it together.

E) Fell in love with Celia.

SOOOOO....

We are BFFs now.

And I let her hold my child.

The end.

I wanted  Celia to WALK across the finish line.

Problem was, "the mile walk" was just shy of

1/2 mile.

So, none of us realized we had crossed the finish line.

I am all for recreating moments.

We went back and got that girl outta her wheelchair.

She proudly WALKED across that finish line.

"Daddy I want to grow THIS tall"

A late night of slumber-partying with her sister and an early morning.

Need I say more?

We walked in a "U" and this is the crowd on the other side.

There were 45 children and their families represented here.

She is looking a little smug here.

She must have just kicked, love-tapped someone.

She is nothing if not ADORABLE.

As is her twinny twin.

And her sisters.

And big brothers for that matter.

Okay I'll stop now.

Since it is my blog, I'll give my thoughts on the walk in random order.

~There was little to no interaction with the other families.

I had hoped that we would get to meet other folks in our position.

But people were pretty standoffish.

NBD.

~The MILE WALK should have been a mile.

Just sayin'

~Our friends and family are AWESOME!!

~Celia looked more severe than any other child I saw.

Sigh.

Of course I am happy for all the other kiddos, 

but even those in wheelchairs could hold their heads up,

 or hold a cup and drink from it, etc.

~We really NEED a firm and complete diagnosis.

~We can't wait to go back next year!