Our older daughter participated again this year in the 20th Annual Special Olympics Walk-a-thon, their yearly fundraiser, in support of all B.C. Special O sports. It was a beautiful day weather-wise and an upbeat and wonderful day otherwise. Our daughter had spoken at her father's Rotary Club and as always the club was supportive and several of the members came out to walk with us. Our daughter had also garnered some very generous support from her aunties, a couple of whom also came and walked with her. So she had a friendly posse to accompany her through the park and we all benefited from the experience; walking and talking with nice folks in the sunshine is a great thing and when it supports a worthy cause like Special Olympics, we all win.
As we strolled along the paths I could not help but look around at the diverse array of human beings around us. With every step I was slowly overwhelmed with a sensation that my body was overfull: full of pride for our daughter's accomplishment, full of love for everyone who came to support our daughter and full of gratitude for the opportunity to meet all these amazing people, people whom we would have never met, if not for our daughter and her disability.
Again this year our daughter was recognized as being one of the top fund-raisers for this year's Walk-a-thon. As I watched her though, surrounded by old and new friends, and friends yet to be, I realized that it was not the money raised that was important, it was the richness of friendship, the comfort of community, a feeling of safety and welcome in a world that sometimes forgets who we are....
As we strolled along the paths I could not help but look around at the diverse array of human beings around us. With every step I was slowly overwhelmed with a sensation that my body was overfull: full of pride for our daughter's accomplishment, full of love for everyone who came to support our daughter and full of gratitude for the opportunity to meet all these amazing people, people whom we would have never met, if not for our daughter and her disability.
Again this year our daughter was recognized as being one of the top fund-raisers for this year's Walk-a-thon. As I watched her though, surrounded by old and new friends, and friends yet to be, I realized that it was not the money raised that was important, it was the richness of friendship, the comfort of community, a feeling of safety and welcome in a world that sometimes forgets who we are....
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