I RUN 4

I have been a member of an amazing group on facebook for the past couple of months, called I Run 4 Micheal. (IR4)

 

 

 

It's been called the most inspiring page on facebook. It truly is too, runners are matched up with special needs children to help inspire them. And even if you can't run, dedicating any activity to your "buddy" is amazing. Because it's really not about the running, it's about bringing joy to someone who isn't able to run or maybe even walk. It's about thinking about someone other than yourself, doing this for someone. Something as simple as saying hello and posting a picture, just to let them know you are thinking about them.

 

Being a mom of special needs children makes me enjoy this group so much more. My kids have special needs and they have struggles but they have mobility, they are more fortunate than others and I teach them that everyday. But I know what they feel when they see others doing something that they can't. And so this group helps that.

It was started by a man who started running and raising money for his friend who had down syndrome and it grew from there. Now there are thousands of runners and even a waiting list to get matched. It is truly inspiring and everyone should sign up.

 

You can sign up to get matched as a runner or a parent of a special needs child on their website www.whodoirun4.com and their facebook page I run for Michael.

 

"God gave me the gift of mobility. Others aren't as fortunate so I Run for Michael, who do YOU run for?"

 

 



Growing

In attempts to grow my blog, and reach and help more people, I have set up my own blog social media sites.
Please follow me below to keep up to date on all blog updates and please share with everyone.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ourkindofspecial
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rkindofspecial Crystal @ Rkindofspecial
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/rkindofspecial

And any advice from bigger blogger pros would be so helpful and greatly appreciated!

SPD and Winter

So its December,
Its cold and Luke is outside in shorts and a T-shirt. And not due to the fact that the boy doesn't have a dresser full of pants, a closet full of shirts and jackets galore.

Wintertime used to be one of my favorite seasons, I loved snow, the changing leaves, the cold weather. But to live the changing season through the senses of my boy, has me rethinking my love for winter.
He can't help it, he doesn't like the feel of clothing on his skin. Coats and shirts are too scratchy, pants are too tight, socks above his ankles burn his legs, he will hate you for days and cry if you put a coat on him. Its probably one of the hardest things to do, to watch your child feel the world in ways you can't. And the hard part is that he doesn't know he feels the world differently.
We go through this every morning, its exhausting just to get him dressed for school. These are days I long for him to be normal. And not to say that I would ever really want him any other way, I love him the way he is. He is special, he is strong, he is unique. But some days I feel it would be so much easier to just get up and be able to dress him like any other child. Send him to school in a cute polo and some khakis, but that's just not gonna happen. I no longer fight this issue. If he wants to dress in a t shirt when its 30 degrees outside. Then he can, the way I see it, as long as i get him to school in clothes, any clothes, then I won. I accomplished a major milestone for the day and we are one more step to greatness.
I truly hope the seasons get easier for him. I hope the world gets easier for him. But either way he will get through his struggles, even if its in shorts and a T-shirt in 30 degree weather.

a friend

Sometimes you meet people that you never thought you would but then find out you couldn't go on without them.

 

I have been helped, and hurt and left. But those who did, taught me lessons about life that I thought I had figured out but I was so wrong, lessons that I am forever grateful for, that have made me a better person.

I have never been a person with many friends, I am not one to open up or share my deepest secrets. I don't say I love you lightly. I am bad at saying I am sorry.

Whether it's from losing people I thought were friends, or from being a daddy's little girl without the dad. I am this person that hides their feelings. So it takes a special person to come into my life to make me want to share.

 

I believe in friendship, I believe in best friends, soulmates..

I couldn't imagine my life right now without my best friend, the one friend that knows every piece of my soul, my heart. All my secrets, all my wishes and dreams. This person that I can open up too, and share my day. I don't worry about being judged, they just listen and get me.

 

It's hard making friends and keeping friends when you have special needs children, they take so much of my time and attention. They drain me of my sanity sometimes and if you haven't been there, walked in my shoes then you just can't get it.

But my best friend does, I could never wish or want anyone better.

 

I love my best friend, they mean the world to me. And I will be forever grateful for the friendship we have.

 

"Friendship isn't about whom you have known the longest... It's about who came, and never left your side.."

Today is the Day

Today is the day we give back to a awesome organization that put a smile on Zach's face like it does to thousands of children with life threatening medical conditions.

Although Zach has had a lot of medical problems and has spent more time in the hospital in his 4 years than most people do in their lifetimes he is doing better. There were times he faced infection, sepsis and even a transplant evaluation. He has been through feeding tubes, central lines, blood transfusions, iv nutrition, too many tests to remember or name and too many days away from just being a kid.
Make a Wish put a smile on his face when they asked what he wished for. "Mickey Mouse house" was his exact words, he loved Mickey Mouse and every time he watched a movie and the castle appeared in the previews, his face lit up. So when Make a Wish told him he was going to Disney World he was estatic!
To people who do not have special needs children or do not know what it is like to sit by your childs hospital bed day and night and just wish they could come home, you might not understand the value of Make a Wish.
But to us, to the families that have been touched by them, it is unexplainable. To get a week of no tests, no appointments, no hospitals. Just your child being a kid, and playing and laughing. It will be forever in our hearts what it was like for that week.

And some kids are not like Zach, some kids do not recover or get better or have remission. Knowing so many families that have lost their children to these life threatening medical conditions, makes me cherish Make a Wish so much more. Even those some of the children are no longer with us, their families remember the joy and time they got to spend seeing amazement in the eyes of their little ones.

So today, we give back. Today is Walk for Wishes. Teams have raised money to help grant wishes for children.

So Team SuperMan in honor of Zach will be there showing our support of this amazing organization.


You can read Zach's story from the beginning starting here..
The beginning

 

 

 





Walk for Wishes

The Make a Wish organization is very important to our family. Zach was able to become a wish kid last year and got his wish to go to Disney World. Our family had a wonderful time in Disney, a week without doctor visits, hospital trips, worries over whats coming next. It was awesome, our family needed the break from the routine of having a sick child.

And like our family, there are lots of other families that need that break. Make a Wish grants thousands of wishes each year, and each wish costs about $6000 to grant. So our family decided to make a team this year and help raise money for Make a Wish by walking in their Walk for Wishes.

Walk for Wishes is a walk through Tanglewood, through the Festival of Lights before it opens for the public. On November 16, hundreds of teams will walk. Most teams are wish families and we walk and raise money because we know how great it is to see our children get wishes when they are facing life threatening illness's.

Please join our team, or help us by making any size donation to our team.

Team SuperMan, in honor of Zach

Join or Donate "Team SuperMan"