Sunday, May 20, 2007

Orange You Glad the Walk is Over?


Guess what? I'm not asking for money anymore!!

The Walk was a big success. Thanks to so many of you for donating! Our team raised almost $50,000 for autism research (at last count), and donations keep trickling in, so it may well be more. We were the #1 team! Chicago brought in well over 1 million dollars total. It was a great time, despite the fact that it was 40 degrees colder than yesterday. Yesterday: 83 Today: 43. Not so good for being outside for a few hours, but we managed. (Note to self: next year, you can put the winter gloves and hats away in late May, but be sure they are accessible in the storage room. Ahem.)

It was wonderful to see so many of the families I work with and some colleagues out there today. I am constantly impressed with the depth of connections within the community of special needs families and professionals here in Chicago; it is completely different from the Bay Area! It meant a lot to me to be present with them and to have my own family there supporting their families. And the boys loved the bounce houses.

The highlight of my day was being bear-hugged, kissed, and told "I love you!!" (repeatedly!) by three family members of one of my clients before I'd even found out how they were related to her. Now that rules.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, what was up with the winter weather here yesterday!?!?!

Congratulations and glad you had fun, anyway.