In May my childhood friend held the first fundraising 5K walk/run to help financially benefit the SMS non-profit organization she created in honor of her daughter who has Smith-Magenis Syndrome. SMS is a genetic disorder with characteristics of developmental delays, including speech and language, sleep disturbances, and behavior issues.
So to help my friend, I signed up my family and me to walk. The Saturday turned out to be so cold and very windy, so I went to the fundraiser by myself bundled in sweatshirts, thick sweatpants and knee high socks. When I arrived, others were battling the wind trying to put up a tarp to help block the wind from the registration table. People were laughing about how ridiculously cold and windy it was out, visiting with new and old friends and adding more layers to keep warm.
During registration time, I helped pass out t-shirts. I also met a guy, Dean who has SMS. He was talking to everyone and wanting to help. I offered him to help me pass out t-shirts, he responded “no” and walked away. I smiled at his response because he was honest and straightforward.
When the run/walk started, everyone started out by running. We needed to move quickly to get warmed up. When we started to walk, Dean was in our group. He walked and talked to everyone, often asking the same questions of everyone. When a runner would run by, Dean would take off running, trying to keep up. After a bit, he would stop and then walk again. Dean also kept asking if we were finished yet. Everyone would smile at Dean for asking this question.
For me, listening to Dean talk with everyone, talking with Dean and watching him interact in his own way, was fun. I just liked everything he said, I liked watching him interact and trying so hard to keep up with the runners. He was a part of everyone’s day.
At the end of the walk, my husband and two young daughters met me. Dean finished before me but I was able to ask him if he finished the walk, and he asked me the same.
After we ate, laughed, and took more pictures, I went home for a nap and a hot shower. Later I pulled up Facebook to check for pictures of the walk and there was Dean. Earlier in the week I had explained to my daughters that I was walking, donating my time and money to help people and kids with SMS and because I cared how my friend and her daughter.
After we were home from the walk, I explained the walk was for people like Dean. I shared the pictures, explaining what we were doing, why we were laughing and who people were and about Dean. I shared how much I liked Dean. I liked the things he said, that he made me smile, that meeting Dean made me remember when I’d volunteered so many years ago for Special Olympics. Made me remember how many smiles and hugs warmed my heart. Remembering how good it felt to volunteer and be part of that day and it made me wonder why I ever stopped volunteering for these events. I felt so blessed to have met Dean and be part of the SMS walk. God worked on my heart that day. God blessed me with the opportunity to do His work, to help others. To be an example to my children, to explain that people are born with disabilities like Dean, that just like Jesus, we accept people and do not judge because of their disability or differences.
I was honored to be part of that cold windy day in May, to help and support my friend, to meet Dean who help me remember how wonderfully soft and open my heart can feel. I was even more blessed as the very next week, after listening to my story and seeing pictures about Dean and the walk, my seven-year-old daughter went to school and asked her teacher if she could share a story. I was told her story started something like this: “My mom and a bunch of people walked for this boy named Dean and he has a disability, and he made my mom smile and she liked everything that he said.”
