Fun Run

This Friday Avery will participate in her schools annual PTO fundraiser which is a “Fun Run” where the kids raise money based on the number of laps they can run around the school gym. It may seem odd to invest so much thought into a fundraising run, but I have both dreaded and looked forward to watching Avery participate in this event since Mady’s first Fun Run in Kindergarten. I remember watching as the kids ran and noticing the principal and gym teacher taking turns walking next to a little girl who was running with a fairly significant limp. I’m not sure why, but I immediately started crying that day in the bleachers. Avery has no trouble walking or running other than stamina and fatiguing faster than her peers, but as I watched this girl struggle, I could just picture myself watching Avery one day and wondered how it would feel to see my own child as “different.” That day has come and while it may seem so insignificant to most everyone else, it has such a different meaning to me. I can see her life circumstances summed up in this one simple event. I know that I will see her struggle to complete the entire run and she will have to have an adult run along side her during the race, but I also know that I will feel such a huge sense of pride watching her simply try to do something that a few months ago she may not have even attempted. Her chronic suffering has taken so much from her and continues to put limits on what she can dream to do, but it also gives so much meaning to things that others take for granted. I will be there, as I was for Mady the last two years, to cheer her on from the bleachers, and I know that I will be fully present for every lap she completes, as it will be an incredible accomplishment after watching her struggle through some of the hardest times of her life this summer. I am painfully aware of much her little body endured throughout the entire 51 days we spent inpatient, but I am also in awe of her courage and bravery to push through her physical limitations and not allow them to stop her from trying her very best. Those painful reminders of my daughters struggles will be there, but so too will there be reminders of her resiliency and strength of body and, more importantly, of mind. I know that as I watch her run on Friday I will cry for the heartache that any mom would feel seeing their child face extra challenges, but I will also cry tears of joy and pride and simple gratitude. Although I can’t run along side her, I will be her biggest cheerleader watching from the sidelines and my hope is that she will know that I will always be there cheering her on through all of life’s highs and lows.