I I truly believe that one of my strengths may also be one of my weaknesses….I want to give. I have to stop myself from giving it all away. It probably sounds weird but I feel that I am more protective and productive when I am giving. So something has been bothering me…Sam is not alone. There are others out there that need help. How can I help?
This story struck me pretty hard and started this process in my head….
I feel like there has to be a way to reach more of these kids in a larger scale. In our case there were so many limitations on how to step in. There is so much red tape with social services. There are so many parents that are in denial about their reality. Every single situation is different yet we try and process them the same.
The program that Sam is in, will save his life. But it is a huge financial cost to us. Why are there not programs like this for kids that do not have the financial means? We are extremely lucky to have the chance to give this to Sam. Most kids do not get this chance…
So I just wonder…how can I help? 2015 for me has started with taking the time to focus on me. And one of the parts of me…is giving. So if anyone has an ideas, thoughts, organizations, challenges etc. Please comment or email them to me. I am not sure what I will do, but I want to collect all the information I can! If you know me…you know I am not afraid to start something. So I am focusing all my fundraising efforts this year on the kids…
Sam’s progress and life as we know it currently…
We are rounding out the probational period of Sam’s school and he is starting to get privileges. While I was in Vegas I received a packet of letters from Sam. Written in a journal style, which was perfect, he wrote out 21 pages over two months. Ahhh….it was so healing to hear from him how he was doing. He told me tales of kayaking in December, the reality of having a farting problem, the bad days with challenges from the other students, the joy of figuring out school and so on and so on. I am so proud of how he is doing and how he is embracing this program. He is working out everyday and proudly announced that he was “officially in shape” because he can now lift more than his weight. Also challenged me to a race when he gets home because he is running now! Way to make my heart skip a beat! He is participating in therapy and is starting to see it’s value. He is focused on school and hoping to be way ahead when he gets back to Charlotte.
My birthday was this week and I got the honor of speaking to Sam on the phone. We only got 15 minutes but just hearing his voice I could tell instantly that he was still the same old Sam but different some how. It is amazing how fast 15 minutes goes by! I had to break some hard news to him. It was important to me to be able to tell him versus writing this news to him. My uncle Tommy passed away last Friday. While on separate sides of my family Tommy was still apart of Sam’s life. Tommy was actually part of an incident where I had the first thoughts of taking the boys in. More recently Tommy taught them how to make walking sticks for hiking. I found Sam’s in his closet and it made me cry. Sam’s said…”Man..he was cool. That sucks. ” Tommy had so much to give. It is really tragic that his life ended too soon. He has left a huge hole in our family. I am thankful for his challenging, wide open, giving, and loving nature.
The other hard piece of information I had to give Sam was that Willy, one of his favorite dogs, also passed away. Sometime we would wonder where Willy was…he was either under a pillow or with Sam balled up and happy as can be. Two pees in a pod for sure.
Life is coming at us in all kinds of different directions right now. Some amazing things are happening for me (more about this later). Some amazingly challenging things are happening right now as well. Sam also has some amazing things happening…and some extreme challenges. One thing is constant….change.
