On June 14,2014 we took part in our first fundraising walk. Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughter hosted a fundraiser in Norfolk Virginia , right down on the water , with the theme of everyone is a hero at CHKD! Now , none of us had ever done a fundraising walk before but this was one of the best things we have done in a long time!
Aunt Christina got her company to hook us up with a great deal on t shirts and so we had white shirts with " Logan is my hero. Fighting for a cure for biliary atresia" on the front and the superman logo with a L in it on the back! The shirts turned out great and a lot of family and friends ordered them! Uncle Eddie got us green glow sticks and Aunt Michelle bought us capes that Maw decorated with Logan's logo and stars, ribbons and "BA" on them.
It's amazing how many small things were big firsts for Logan on this trip. Because we've had to be careful with him and it was such a long cold winter, Logan really didn't get out much. Now that Logan is on a long term antibiotic and his blood work is coming back so great, we can relax a little and it's amazing to see him able to experience new things. Maw figured it would be a good idea for us to get a hotel room so that we didn't have to get the kids up so early. The check in time started at 6:15 am and the walk for us started at 7:20. So Friday night we headed over to the Norfolk Waterisde and checked into a room with a great view of the water. Logan seemed pretty concerned at first but almost all of his trips out include going to a hospital so he threw his arms out and shook his head from side to side. That's what he does when he gets scared. But he settled down pretty quickly, we fed him some dinner, a big storm was moving in so Devin and Maw ran down to the pool for a quick dip. Afterwards we all got dressed and ready to go out to dinner. This was pretty much Logan's first experience out on the town, we walked through Waterside, went to dinner and Logan had no trouble sleeping in the hotel bed between me and Daddy. Poor Maw got stuck with Devin and his farts all night haha.
Grandma, Mimi and Granddaddy all met us at the hotel room in the morning and we headed out to the park to meet up with Logan's godmother, Katy and her boyfriend Nate , as well as Chirs and Trinity , my best friend's husband and daughter. All the volunteers and other walkers were so friendly , we got to have our pictures taken in capes for the contest! It was great to take part in something to help support these kids, many who like Logan , fight a silent fight everyday. As we walked through the 2 mile event path we saw a lot of families and a lot of kids.
I think the hardest and most inspiring thing to see we're the families walking for the babies and children they lost. They wore t shirts with dates of birth and death , some not even a month old, some had gotten their angel wings years ago. As I looked down at Logan,sound asleep in his stroller and Devin , annoyed that we were walking too slow, I wondered if I would have the strength to keep walking, year after year , if we lost one of them. We were walking with our kids, in a sense of gratitude and hope. It must have been a much different feeling for those parents, to get up that morning, put on those shirts and go out there and walk for the babies they can't hold. What incredible people they are to be able to carry on, to make sure other people remember , to continue to fight and touch the lives of others. I don't know those people but now I know their kids names, printed on shirts, gone too soon.
We don't know what the future holds for any of us. We don't know what the next chapter of Logan's fight will bring. But we are going to keep walking every year. Get people asking about biliary atresia. Do what we can to help as many people as we can. And pray for the babies here and the ones we lost and their families. And we will never lose hope.