Buddy Walks Past

Day 19: 31 For 21 Blog Challenge for Down Syndrome Awareness

I might have mentioned that I love the feature on Facebook that allows me to see all the other posts that happened on this day over the last few years that I have had Facebook.  It has reminded me of some amazing moments, some sad ones and it has shown me pictures that I haven't forgotten, but maybe haven't seen in a while.  I love that. 

This week has been a lot of pictures of past Buddy Walks.  And it was with great joy and sadness that I looked through them.  And we are going to do a Buddy Walk, but up here, and we're going to make a valiant effort to not miss the Santa Barbara Buddy Walk this year.  And by effort I mean, man it's hard to hit because it is in June and not October/November the way San Diego and Anaheim plan theirs. 

Our first Buddy Walk was when Bradley was ten months old and when we did the Buddy Walk we were overwhelmed by the turnout of our family and the incredible group of friends that had followed us from Japan and were stationed in San Diego then.  All along, we knew that we were looking at a limited time with most of our friends, the Navy moves people around every two to four years, so we held each time with them as special.  The Walk was special, we didn't really get to know that many people, we were trying to be with our group, spend time with our people and still walk.  Bradley's second year, I was helping him walk.  It was magical. 

Over the years, we have had a steady crew that never let us done, always came out to be with us and we knew how Blessed we were to have them.  With our incredible steady crew, we would get a different group of friends and family that would Bless us each year.  Some would plan a surprise and some would plan a vacation from Japan to see Los Angeles and San Diego and make sure they were standing there ready to walk with us on Buddy Walk day.  It was like our hearts were given a refill of love on these special days, in the hour of the walk, and then the hours spent together after as we shared a meal, laughter and love - we were slowly built up again, ready to confront the next challenge that Bradley had in store for us. 

Our family is spread far and wide now, and by family I mean those that share our blood and those that chose to love us.  The ones that send their love and support during every procedure and every hospital stay, no matter how short or how long.  The ones that listen as I spill my fears in lines that may or may not make sense; depending on how troubled I am, and always offer their love and support to help stay on my feet and keep taking every next step.  The ones that we would never have made it this far without. 

There is no Buddy Walk in our area, we have to travel somewhere... but a couple years ago there was a small walk, a small gathering where we took a tour around a small little walking path around a really pretty park.  And wouldn't you know, people we love came and walked with us there too. 

And so spoiled as we are, we were hesitant to try the Anaheim Buddy Walk last year, with absolutely no idea what we were getting into, we didn't advertise too much our intent to walk.  I should have kept the faith in our steady crew, I know of at least two who would have made it to walk with us.  As it was though, we didn't get to do the whole walk.  The weather was incredibly hot, so much that we watched Bradley just completely wilt before our eyes to the point that he had to be carried and fell asleep on Dad's shoulder as we walked.  Though Bradley's stamina is improving, we rarely go anywhere without a stroller for him, he just doesn't get very far before he tires out.  Last year, we got to the walk and discovered his stroller had a flat tire, and us without a spare.  It seemed like one tough issue after another.  In the end, as we walked around the outside of the stadium and got close to our car, we went ahead and headed out.  Only we were disappointed, luckily none of our team had made it so they weren't left with: go on, go home, or join us for lunch near Disneyland??  Still, I missed everyone from our team.

Buddy Walks are fun, but when you don't know anyone, you learn how isolated we families truly are.  It's one thing to smile and wave to the cuties that are running around the walks, it's another to start developing a friendship with someone simply because you both love someone with an extra chromosome.  So families come with their own families and groups and try to outdo each other with their shirts and signs and whatnot.  When we walked through Balboa, we loved the museums around us yes, but we truly loved spending hours eating Japanese food at the Japanese Café outside the Japanese Garden.  There we could gather at tables close together and catch up on a year's worth of adventures and stories - picking up the threads of friendship and family like no time had passed. 

That might be what I miss the most, the camaraderie that we shared, the laughter, the jokes as we teased each other.  Favorite Facebook updates would be reviewed, the best Sydney Funnies would be voted and decided upon, some would encourage me that they read this Blog and that would be the fuel I needed to keep writing.  All of it, knowingly or unknowingly, healing the past year's struggles and pain while prepping us for the next battles.  These people, these unknowing heroes that came out to give their time and their hearts have no real clue the depth of gratitude their support deserves from us. 

I always tried to find the words to send them thank you cards, to those that walked, to those that donated in Bradley's name.  But truly there are no words to tell people how much their love means to you.  Some might not see the love, but in the depths of the deepest wells of fear and pain - these are the days that I would think back on.  These memories that are etched in my soul of the smiles, the hugs, those that held Bradley and my girls, these are the memories that helped me get through the hardest days.  And they hold me over to this day, because we knew that life would take our family away...we knew that time and circumstance was making our trips to San Diego a little bit harder every year.  We knew.  And we have the memories in the pictures that remind us of the years of Buddy Walks where Blessings from above showered us with enough to last us for a lifetime. 

We will still Buddy Walk, but in June, in Santa Barbara.  We are thinking of a new Bradley's Buddy Brigade shirt that we can get made up early enough to send out to the "Team" and even if distance is a factor, perhaps walkers will wear his shirt and take a walk for Bradley and send us a bunch of pictures that will tie us all together again, and it won't be quite so lonely as a small little family adrift in a big crowd.  We'll be one family tied together across miles and oceans and through it all the love will flow over and around us and in return our team will feel us loving each of them back.  At least we can try. 

Bradley's Buddy Brigade, you are the best group of people I have ever had the pleasure to love, thank you for all you have done for this little boy and this family.  I miss each and everyone one of you, and my prayer is that God will send his Blessings to you in all your days. 

Buddy Walk in June, start training now!  ;-)  Send me your shirt ideas, and let me know who's in... we'll walk this together the best way we can! 

Happy Wednesday all!!