I have always been up for a challenge. I have been competitive and drawn to things that many might see as demanding or over the top. So this race is in line with the type of thing that I would have always loved to be a part of.
As much as I thought I was up for a challenge, I had no idea what that word even meant until I have seen life unfold for my amazing little boy who has had more than his fair share of them. I write this from the side of his hospital bed where he is currently wearing 23 electrodes to try and provide several days worth of data to help get his seizures under control.
After a decade here on Earth when most thought he would only live for a few days, this guy has endured countless therapies, tests, anesthesia, surgeries, and unbelievable physical pain. He has never had vision and has only had hearing for the second half of his life. He could initially make no sound, not even the slightest cry. He has battled having one questionable kidney, asthma, allergies, brain and spinal cord abnormalities, and now epilepsy.
And YET...He smiles. He sings. He learns. He communicates. He said "I love you" to me for the first time when he was 9 years old. He hugs and kisses his sisters. He rock climbs, and swims, and does yoga, and rides horses, and even creates wooden learning devices with a saw for other deafblind children.
My WHY is the summation of all of the challenges that he has overcome. I hope that crossing that finish line is a fraction of the achievement of what he accomplishes daily.
I love him more than I knew was humanly possible. He will always be my WHY.
These things are all still true today!!
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