Gratitude

Once again, another incredible lesson came to me yesterday. My friend, Kaz Mammon, who is orchestrating the Harley motorbike ride event on May 19th to raise money for the Fowler Center for Special Needs Children, did another nice thing for our family. He wanted to have Ethan take pictures for another newspaper interview. Now Ethan is very excited about the event coming up on the 19th. He completely understands the reason for this fundraiser now that he has had two picture sessions for the press. You should have seen this kid ham it up for the camera. He gave his simple smile look as well as his ever so serious look for the many, many pictures that were taken. He was so proud to sit up on that huge Harley bike and then stand next to the bike that is at least 5 times his size. He knows exactly why we are doing this, to raise the money needed to build an awesome center for these most deserving kids. 100% of the money raised will go to the camp.

It was clearly invigorating for this 48 pound kid to sit on top of that huge Harley. There was a sense of pride and an "I am important" attitude that filled him up completely. And then when we were all done all he wanted to do was go play with his brother on the playground in the park next to us. I have never seen him get up and down off the jungle gym, merry go round, and see saw so fast and so independently before in his short life. I remember days of the past when Ethan would scream and yell with fear over trying anything new. He would either refuse to climb anything or he would throw a tantrum until I was right there next to him lifting him from one place to the next. Today, Ethan was miraculously running all over the place occasionally asking for help to hold his arm crutches or lift his leg over a bar. A piece of me didn't know what to do with myself now that I didn't have to help Ethan all the time and then another piece of me reminded me that I needed to enjoy and savor this moment. So, I joined in on the fun, spinning them super fast on the merry go round, see sawing up and down on the see saw, and encouraging them to jump and slide on the playground. And then there was little Eleanor laughing and giggling as she watched everyone having fun. She had fun too swinging back and forth in the bucket swings.

Just think, we would have missed out on this glorious day of fun and play if I didn't have to pull Ethan out of school early to go take pictures for the newspaper. Then to top it all off Kaz thanked us with two pizzas to take home for dinner. It is we who should have done the thank yous. So here I am, thanking you, Kaz, for asking us to be a part of this event. It has been nothing but a blessing and we look forward to May 19th when we get to go for a Harley ride for these kids that deserve it at the Fowler Center.

Please go to http://www.mamonride.com/ for more information on the fundraising event for the Fowler Center Camp for Special Needs Children.

You can also go to http://thefowlercenter.org/aboutus.shtml for more information about the Fowler Center Camp for Special Needs Children. It is a very informative and eye opening web site.