ARDS 'March for Miracles'

Just wanted to talk about the 'March for Miracles'

I wish everyone could have been there with us! It was our third year of doing this event, and I think it was the best yet.

Sadly, after a summer of sun and heat, we did have a few drizzles every so often, but it was not too hot, so that was great.

We began our day at 6:30 AM, Paula and I, that is... (and my daughters...) but someone else had the tables, so we pulled the stuff out of our cars and waited. And waited. And waited...

Then some of our other volunteers arrived, but without the tables, we waited. Just with more people. And more volunteers, but no tables! Argh!

Finally, the volunteers with the tables arrived, and we started to set up. But who knew that people would show up on time???

Well, they did. So we were scurrying to get everyone registered, set with a T-shirt, and some breakfast... (and we still needed a couple more tables that had not yet arrived...)

Still, everything managed to move smoothly enough, and quickly we set up our silent auction table, and face painting tatoo table.

After that, it was much easier, with people coming in at a slower pace, and others going off to walk through the gardens, which are always so beautiful!

Once again, we saw many of those who have supported the ARDS Foundation year after year, and many new faces!

Jessica's family drove twelve hours to join us! http://ardsusa.org/ARDSkidsStories.htm#jessica

And I know that Jessica would love to talk to other kid's who have had ARDS! If you know of a young girl or boy who might want to email, IM, whatever, please let us know. Jessica is a wonderful, sweet girl with a fantastic family to surround her, and yes, they know what she is dealing with but how great would that be for her to talk to other kids who really 'get' what she has endured with ARDS, and its after effects.

We were thrilled to meet Kathy and Tina, whose plight we had followed for so long, via email and the message board. http://www.ardsil.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000066 They also drove, not quite as long as Jessica's family but still, it was a long drive. We were so happy that they could join us! Kathy promises to add her amazing survival story to the website too.

Barbara Shapiro, who lost her mother to ARDS, and joins us for every walk, was there! Always wonderful to see her. Barbara Hengels, who lives in the Chicago area, also joined us for the first time. Lisa Sullivan, and ARDS survivor who lives only minutes from me, came with a huge group of friends to support the cause, and of course, Lisa!

Deb and Stephanie, Chicago area survivors who I have enlisted to help me all the time, also were there. They are great, always helping to promote awareness of ARDS and the foundation.

Sharon Taylor, who lives in London but has family in the Chicago area, also was there with her family. This is the second walk that they have been at.

I know that I am forgetting people right now, but it has been a long weekend; I will post with more info, too, and I am sure that Paula will as well and fill in some gaps!

Oh, the silent auction was a lot of fun! First time we did that but we will continue the silent auction next year as well.

Will post later about the amazing Mini-Conference that we had later that day... it was possibly the best thing that we have done in terms of offering information to the ARDS Community in plain english.