The Ripple Effect - Our RunDisney / Team Beads of Courage Update

The other day Pierson and I were in the pool. As most 4 (almost 5!) year old boys are, he is all in to exploring the water. While standing on the pool step he slapped the top of the water with his hand and made waves. "Mommy!! Look at that!" He did it again, more waves, more ripples. "That's cool!"
"It is cool!" I said. "That's called a ripple effect. Your one action moves the water right where you hand is, then that water moves more water and so on and it makes ripples that go all the way across the pool, even though you only touched the water here."
"When do they end?" He asked hitting the water again and studying each ripple.
"There's no way to tell really. Here they go to pool wall but who knows how far they could go if that wall wasn't there to stop them."
Keep this story in mind as you read the rest of this blog.

This time two weeks ago Pierson was proudly wearing his first ever medal around his neck after completing his first ever race -- a RunDisney Kids Race. This was something he was looking forward to for weeks. We had practiced our races and running, talked about what it would be like to run the race, strategy and even which shoe to attach his Team Beads of Courage beads to. The morning of the race he woke up wide-eyed and ready. He had a hardy breakfast and was ready to go! When we got to the kids races it began to rain. The information we got said the race would go on rain or shine so we didn't let it bother us a bit as we got wetter and wetter. Jeff and our friends went to the stands to get ready to watch and Pierson and I went to the starting line for the 4-6 year old division and inspected the course.

Jeff took this picture while we were waiting for P's race to begin. One of my favorites EVER!

We chatted with some other kids and parents as we waited for the race to begin. There were a lot of 6 year olds in our heat and a few other 4 year olds. Before we knew it, the race started... and before I knew it Pierson was off. Ahead of me! I had to run to catch up with him. My goal was to take pictures standing in front of him for the race but that proved harder than I had expected. It was like a switch went off in his head he just ran! The last obstacle was finding a toy barried in a sandpit then it was on to the last 100 yards of the race on the track. After he got on the track he took a deep giant breath as he was running. I got scared that he was fatiguing or having a hard time breathing. As he exhaled he took off even faster!

Running hard almost at the finish line

Crossing the finish line

P and his medal! He was a little excited, can you tell?

He ran over the finish line with a big smile on his face and his medal was placed around his neck. SUCCESS!!!
And there we had it -- another miracle. Our little boy who we almost lost nearly 2 years ago, who on paper is still a hemiplegic, a congenital heart defect/ heart surgery/ stroke survivor had finished a race and done it well. He kept up with the 6 year olds guys. 6 year olds! Most of which were probably perfectly healthy! Of course you would think that about Pierson too unless you pulled up his shirt. You just never know....
After we got back to the hotel we took the beads off of his shoe and put them back in the baggie. We talked about who might get the bead he ran with and where on his strand he was going to put his "race bead". We asked him if he liked it and if he wanted to do it again. "YEAH!"
As far as I know he may be one of, if not the first Beads of Courage member to carry a Team bead. He loves that we get to help other kids and we talk about who might get his bead! What's really cool is that whoever gets that bead will have a matching corresponding bead to his so they'll be sporting the same bead!
After a day of fun in the parks it was time for the grown-up race. My best friend since childhood and I originally decided to this race to show 30 who was boss since we both turn 30 this year. When I discovered Team Beads of Courage I called her to ask if she would like to carry a bead too. Without hesitation she said yes and within a few days had her bead.
Our race was fantastic! We went in to it not knowing what to expect. Neither of us had ever done an obstacle course race before. It. Was. AWESOME!

Waiting in for our wave to begin.

Beads on board! Ready to race!

Kendra would tell you she's not a runner (which I would argue) but she is in fierce physical shape (nothing on that girl wiggles) and showed all the obstacles who was boss. After we cleared mile one we chatted as we ran talking about how this was so far a breeze. Kendra had actually injured herself earlier in the week but she wasn't letting that stop her.  Then we took a second to think about how lucky we are to have whole, bodies and how we were getting to do a race at the most magical place on earth and how blessed we were to be here at Disney World and to get to run -- healthy. I looked down at my beads and smiled then we ran on. My "keep" bead is going to a friend of ours who is about to have another open heart surgery. I thought about how this race was 3 miles and this is his 3rd surgery at 3 years old. Before we knew it we were at the finish line for the 5k portion of the race. Oh but the finish line doesn't mean you're done at the Expedition Everest Challenge... oh no, that's not what that means at all. The 5k finish line means you are now moving on the the second part of the race, the scavenger hunt and an additional 2 mile run.

Yes, the last clue was that hard. This is the sea of people who had been running stopped to solve the last clue

Kendra hard at work trying to solve the last clue.

You guys. I am so glad I was with Kendra. That girl can take clues and find answers in mere seconds. Actually I think we established a long time ago that she is smarter than I am.
The last clue however was a stumper. As we ran in to the last section of the race after we received the 4th and final clue we couldn't figure the dang thing out. Neither could the 60+ other people who stopped running and took a seat on the ground trying to figure the dang thing out. Our cards were supposed to make a symbol that was on our race bib and that was the final answer. It totally DID NOT! I'm almost certain that someone in the RunDisney office was laughing as they orchestrated the hardest last clue in the history of the world. We finally got it and ran on to the finish line, laughing. Kendra grabbed my hand and said "Ready?" We threw our arms in the air and jumped over the finish line. The pictures do a decent job of capturing how much fun this race was. I would do it again in a heartbeat! After we got our medals I looked down at my beads, thinking about the kids who would get them and what a cool journey they had been on. I am so thankful that we got to do this to celebrate our birthdays, friendship and celebrate kids who have overcome obstacles far worse than the ones on our race course.
We went to the after-race party and had a blast. Pierson was a trooper! He got to ride the Expedition Everest roller coaster. It was a BEAST! Loved it! We danced with Disney characters and enjoyed Animal Kingdom park at a super low attendance. I went to bed that night with a super full heart!

Our official finisher picture and medals

Crossing the finish line, mid-air

The next morning we got a text from Kendra "78 out of 504 women's teams. Not too shabby!" I find it hilarious that we finished in the top 100 when all we went in there to do was "Have fun and make memories" --- both of which were achieved of course.
I posted some pictures of Pierson running from the professional photographers on the course last week on Facebook and have had several inquiries on how to become a Team Beads of Courage bead carrier. Can I tell you how happy that makes me? Our brave boy is going to help other kids get special beads because he wanted to race and carry beads.
We even have some heart friends that will carry some this weekend because their little boy saw the beads of Pierson's shoe. He wants to run a race now too!
Ripple Effect.
Now let's take this back a few steps...
Jean Baruch is a pediatric oncology nurse who dreamed of a way for kids who were facing serious illness to have a way to record, tell and share their brave journeys. Because of her Beads of Courage was born and spread to children's hospitals all over the world, including Pierson's.
There's a family who lost their daughter to congenital heart disease a few years ago who decided to honor their daughter's memory by establishing a foundation that funds the Beads of Courage program at Pierson's hospital...
Because of this Pierson is blessed to have Beads of Courage to document his journey with congenital heart disease. Because of this....
We found out about Team Beads of Courage because Pierson and his child life specialist received a bead carried by an American summer Olympian...
Because an Olympian carried a bead and Pierson loved his bead so much I decided to carry beads in my races...
Pierson wanted to carry a bead and start racing too...
Because Pierson carried a bead for other kids, others have seen what a cool thing it is to carry beads for others and do the same....
Those people will tell their stories of why they have a bead attached to their shoe and others will want to do the same...
More kids facing terminal and serious illness will get a Team Bead with a special story because more people know about it...
Who knows where that ripple will end, or if it ever will.
May all those ripples glorify the Lord.
This week has been hard for our heart community.  Our sweet heart friend David passed away Wednesday. This makes the second heart friend in 5 months that we have lost. My heart is broken. In David's memory his parents have asked that donations be made (more information on this link) to help build an Infant Resuscitation Lab where medical professionals from all over the Dallas/Fort Worth area can come to learn new cutting edge techniques on how to resuscitate a child or baby who is in cardiac arrest.
Bittersweet Ripple Effect.
Hundreds, possibly thousands of babies and children will saved because of David and how his parents have chosen to honor him forever. If you would like to contribute to this lab I would encourage you to visit this link and do so. You can also read more about precious David.
I think it's important to remember that our actions and choices have ripple effects.
Let's go make some positive ripples!