Walk to a Cure 2009

WE DID IT!
You know that feeling of letdown that you feel on Christmas morning after all the presents are opened? That's exactly what I felt after the walk was over yesterday! We had put so much planning and effort into the walk this year and it was over so fast but now we've got the awards ceremony to look forward to. So....onto the day of events....

The day started with me turning over and seeing the clock say 7:07am ....WHAT?!?! I had set my alarm to get up at 6am and it never went off! I jumped out of bed, ran around the house waking the girls up, got everything and everyone ready and we were walking out the door at 7:42am. We had to pick up one of Kacey's friends, Hunter. He and Kacey have been friends since....uhhhh...before birth! :) Actually, the night I was having complications with her and was sent to the hospital was the same night he was born. She finally came about 3 weeks later! After we picked up Hunter, I took them to get some breakfast and by 8:30am we were pulling into the walk site. Misty rain...yuk! It had been pouring the night before and so they were not setting up the individual tents like they had last year. They didn't have a lot of what they'd planned to have because of the rain. So we went and reserved a table under the big tent and set up our stuff. By 9am, we had friends starting to arrive. Many people from my Mom's work were coming in, people I'd never met before but they heard about Kacey and opened their hearts to her! Around 10am, everyone started gathering toward the stage they had set up. We still didn't have a count for how many people we had walking but I knew it was A LOT! The lady on the mic called all of the children with diabetes to the front of the stage..... 13 children were standing there and that wasn't counting the ones that didn't want to walk up there. Standing before us were the reasons why we were there and one of those reasons was my baby!I managed to choke back the tears I was feeling come on until a grandmother took the stage. She told "their story" and about how she felt when she got the call about her grandchild being diagnosed, how daily life for him is difficult and how they took the time to learn how to care for him. At that point I was completely overwhelmed. The tears fell freely and I sobbed as I thought about "Kacey's story" and the day we found out and how my own Mom has taken the time to be such an advocate for Kacey. I also thought about the people there with us. They took time on a Saturday to come out in the nasty cold misty rain just so they could walk 3 miles with Kacey. That my friends, is what I call SUPPORT! Many of them took the time to raise money within their own circle of friends. My dear friend, Jill, sells Tupperware and she held an Open House for 2 hours and announced on Facebook that she was donating 100% of her profit to Kacey's team. We were so excited when she announced she was donating $150 to JDRF! I could go on and on about the support but it's very obvious we're having no shortage of that. :)
We made it through the 3 mile walk...which we thought was only 2 miles and I couldn't understand why Kacey was feeling tired. We pushed her through the last 1/2 mile and I crossed the finish line with my arms around both my girls. Yes, another heartfelt mommy moment that brought me to tears. We went back to the tent and Kacey sat down and I hear.... "Mom, I'm low!" Uh-Oh! She'd dropped to a 62...hahaha no wonder she had no energy left! She ended up getting something to eat and then she was ready for the team picture. We gathered up our team and we still weren't sure how many walkers we had so we counted them while we were waiting to take the picture.....56 and 2 had already left.....58 WALKERS!!! We had the largest team there! Then we had the raffles. Kacey won a new meter & lancet and a JDRF button for her jacket. Everyone started leaving and we began to pack things up. We got an exciting announcement.... DIABETES SWEETIES has won 1st Place in the t-shirt logo contest!!!!!! YAYYYYYYY!!!!!! This year, I proudly designed the logo and took it to Peace Frogs and asked them to print it. They proudly took on the task and donated all of the art fees and printing fees. Thanks Sandra!!! After we got everything packed up, I got that letdown feeling. It was over, we won for the most walkers and the best logo. WAY TO GO DIABETES SWEETIES!!! We took Kacey's friend home and after ge got out, she layed her head over and I could tell she was thinking. I asked her what was on her mind? She said, "I think this was the best walk ever!"

Now, I have another story in the middle of all of this. While we were standing at the stage when they asked all the children with diabetes to come up, the lady made the announcement that there was someone there giving away FREE Cozmo supplies and if anyone was on a Cozmo pump and interested then please see her and she'd put us in contact with the person that had them. FREE SUPPLIES?!?! Uhhhh, I don't know about you, but if someone offers free supplies for Kacey's pump then I'm gonna jump! I went straight up there and told the lady I was interested and she put me right in contact with the mom that had them. An introduction of one D-Mom to another took place. I met Mara. She's a mom of an adorable 8yr old little boy that was diagnosed at the age of 1...yes, ONE! He had a Cozmo for the last 3 years and when they found out Cozmo was going out of business, they made the switch to MiniMed recently but they were left with unused and unopened Cozmo supplies that they hoped someone could use. Because the walk was about to start, I briefly told her about Kacey and showed her where our table was. After the walk, we met back over at our table and her table was right next to ours. She handed me a large brown sack full of infusion sets and cartridges! We exchanged hugs and I got her email and phone number. You know those times when you look at one D-Mom to another and they just get it? Well, she got it! She then said...If you ever need to talk, you know how sometimes it's hard.... OMG! Yes! I get it! *sigh* So then she introduced Kacey and her son. It was too many people around for them to really get to know one another but I really would love to plan a date for us to sit and chat. I gave him and his mom one of our team shirts. Yes, they had their own team but who wouldn't love to wear a shirt to support JDRF? ;) I'm very thankful that I was able to participate in this walk and meet another D-Mom that lives so close! THANKS MARA!!! :)

So there ya have it....our walk day. I couldn't have asked for any more! We don't have donation totals yet because we've still got money rolling in but I know we've done better than last year ;) I've also got a friend, Lori, that could not make it to the walk because she is a Creative Memories consultant and she was holding a weekend crop. She was so disappointed she couldn't walk but she set up a donation bucket for Kacey and she also made the announcement that she was donating 50% of her weekend profit to JDRF! Amazingggggggggg!!! I'll keep you all posted and in December we will make the announcement of what was raised for JDRF.

Thanks again everyone!!!