the Buddy Walk

Hello friends and family!! I know I have been absent for quite some time. Four nights a week now, I am the single mom to two kids. Dustin is wisely using up the remaining college fund from his military benefits to get his bachelor's degree in IT management. Though this is an absolutely wonderful opportunity for him (and hopefully our family will reap the benefits of upon completion) it certainly is a trying time. This has given me an even greater respect for single moms. I love my kids, but wow, it's really nice to have that partner helping you out. It makes a big difference.

So, yes, I have a lot to catch up on, but I have some business to attend to first.

Put this date in your calendar - Saturday, October 10, 2009, 11am to 3pm. That will be the 3rd Annual Buddy Walk to benefit the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Richmond. It will be at the Richmond International Raceway. Want to know what exactly the Buddy Walk is about? I'll let you read.

We hope you can be there. We would love to have as many family and friends as possible come. We want to help show that the diagnosis of Down syndrome is not all that bad. Yes, your child will have challenges and may have serious health issues to overcome, but the joy that fills your life equals what comes with your "normal" child.

Besides, how could you not fall in love with this:

So, if you are ready to register - or if you are able to donate a few dollars - please go to Landon's page. There you will also learn why the Buddy Walk, and fundraising for the DSAGR, is so important to us.

Also, this year, I designed a t-shirt for our team to wear. Whaddaya think?

The quote on the shirt, "The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra" is from Jimmy Johnson. Sports fans should know who he is (I'm not), but apparently he had several motivational quotes from his career. When I came across it, I was struck. The "extra" part, to me, references that extra chromosome that makes up Landon's cells. And that extra chromosome has made our lives extraordinary. A difference that we hadn't anticipated, but wouldn't change for anything.

Our team name, the LANDon of PossABILITIES, is partially borrowed from the Buddy Walk. At the event, there is a vendor section called Advocacy/PossABILITIES. I borrowed it because even though we are living in the LANDon of Dreams, we are heading to the LANDon of Hope and most certainly expect to arrive in the LANDon of Opportunity, the LANDon of PossABILITIES is what I want folks to recognize most.

This beautiful boy came into our world just 19 months ago. Though sometimes I wonder when things will happen, I never wonder if. I know he has much to share with this world, even if world is only defined by those we know and love.

So please join us - we would love for you to be there!