Friday, May 29, 2015

An Incredible Mile

I woke up super excited as it was the day of the race. Morgan comes in at 7:00am and is tired but excited! I picked out yoga pants, an Easter Seals T-shirt, and my Victoria Secret athletic jacket. 

 
I see Mom and Dad in the parking lot and I am pumped! I find my therapists and we go stretch in one of the therapy rooms. We quickly stretched and Mom helped us bring the walker to the start line. Mom had to go to my little sister's water polo tournament but she took so many pictures before. 

 
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, START! I started walking with Dad, Joanne and Tami who are my devoted physical therapists, and Morgan. About a block in, Jenn, my main caregiver shows up with her dog so I have quite the entourage! I'm surrounded by little kids who have unimaginable challenges in their lives. They have a lifetime of surgeries and therapies to go through. However, on that day, they were being applauded for their heroism. To have them acknowledge me by cheering me on was humbling. In my case, being an adult has been easier than being a child with a disability. I had the storybook childhood but I had a lot more doctor appointments because I was always growing and that meant a lot of adjustments with my equipment or people wanting to make sure everything was working as it should. Now that we have that all figured out, Mom, Dad, and I know what is important which is my movement disorders so I see a neurologist once a year and physical therapy twice a week. That is nothing compared to other individuals with disabilities have to go through. We dodged so many bullets and that was why I was able to complete this goal. 

 
When I was roughly three blocks away, I could feel the energy of the crowd. I start going faster and faster! My dad had to speed it up along with my entourage! I was fifty feet from the finish line and the crowd is CHANTING my name! Morgan and Jenn start taking pictures. It's my moment! I cross the finish line and its bliss! I did it in 46 minutes which is less than we anticipated which had been an hour. 

 
I got so many hugs and good wishes. I have to say thank you, thank you, thank you for the outpouring of love on Facebook and Twitter. It was unbelievable! Of course, thank you to my dad and other entourage members. It was an incredible mile! 


The real reward was a therapist coming up to me and informing me that her client now wanted to walk a mile next year. That feeling is priceless!


Of course, thank you to Easter Seals DuPage and the Fox Valley Region for 7 years of outstanding love and support! 

 
Love, 
Hannah! 


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