2016 Rock N' Roll Marathon ~ Team Best Buddies ~ Team David/Daryl

Thank you Kind Bars for supporting Team Best Buddies

#kindawesome 

David decided to take a nap during his News interview.

#12newsaz

Last year at this time we were registering for David's very first race. For the first time ever in our lives I was able to watch David cross his very first finish line, an opportunity I had longed and waited for for over 18 years.  Little did we know that, that experience would be the first of many for us.  What makes it even more meaningful is that we get to share the experience with some incredible people who have forever changed our lives!  Thank you for the opportunity to create worthwhile memories and build lifelong friends! Not only have you shared of your time, your talents, and your legs, you have shared your heart with us and you now have a significant place in our hearts. I can't thank you enough for all the selfless sacrifices you make to eliminate some of the obstacles in our lives.  #teambestbuddiesaz

The moments that make every obstacle in teaching worth it.

 My little Emma has struggled with her balance which has prevented her from walking. While problem solving we thought of putting a weighted lap pad in a back pack to help her with her balance. IT WORKED!!!!!

                                                                    January 2016

Today I am overwhelmed with joy!  God is so faithful!  For many years my heart ached for the experiences David and I never got to have.  As the years have passed I have learned to trust God and his promise.  I might not ever have the opportunity to see my own child walk, but God has graciously allowed me to still be part of the experience in others lives.  Emma is the 3rd child who came to me in a wheelchair that I have had the privilege of watching take steps.  Teachers salaries might be low, but our benefits are out of this world!

April 2015

I am so humbled by all of the love and support from friends, family, and even perfect strangers.  Thank you will never be enough!

                                                                 Avanfordavid.org

I'm feeling hopeful or just having a good day dream!

If I won the lottery first I would create a nonprofit called "David Duty".  I would rebuild hundreds of schools in Arizona.  Then I would help create spectacular programs and resources for the special needs community! Oh and I can't forget about my youth group. A missions trip around the world would be nice!  Just saying!!!!

Merry CHRISTmas 2015!

Sometimes the holidays can be a very lonely and sad time for us.  But when I look back and reflect on all the fun memories, adventures, VIP hospital stays, and all the struggles we have survived together,  just you and I.   I know that God gave me you to help me survive life and find my purpose.  He blessed me with a perfect soul to teach me how to gracefully find the courage to keep pushing forward.  Because of you David, I've had so much to be joyful about every Christmas for the last 19 years.

I hope mommy makes you as happy as you make me!

Being David's Mom...

I passed out the invitations to David's school today.  I guess the little girls have already realized that they now have David's phone number.  I get a call for him today while I was still at work.  After finally figuring out who she and what she was calling for, she asked if she could speak to David.  I told her that I was at work and that she would have to call back after 6:00pm.

She then told me she loved David and wanted to know if we could come over to her house for Christmas dinner.  Hmmm... I wonder if her parents know she invited us to spend Christmas with them.  

David is 19 and although he has had his fair share of crushes this is the first time I have had to deal with girls calling him.  I am quite tickled right now!

Wishing my perfect little angle a Happy 19th Birthday!

19 years ago today God blessed me with a precious gift, a fragile little boy who would teach me so many valuable life lessons. Since birth David has taught me how to appreciate the wonderful joys of life. Even with out words David has inspired me, taught me how to be courageous, brave, an inspiration, how to preserver, and most importantly how to live intentionally, and be Christ like in all that I do.

David was a God send who despite all of the challenges he had to face, still somehow managed to save me from myself while helping me find my purpose. I am and always will be eternally grateful for David and God’s grace. I am so honored that God entrusted me as his mother. He has truly been the wind beneath my wings!

#hissmilekeepsmegoing

I can't thank you all enough for all of love and support.

This weekend while in North California for my nieces wedding David started showing signs of the onset of a cold.  I immediately started him on Garlic oil, vitamin C, and Zicam.  We returned home on Monday night and on Tuesday morning I sent him to school and then returned to work to enjoy Thanksgiving festivities with my munchkins at school.  During breakfast I received a call from David's school that he was looking grey so they had the nurse check his oxygen saturation levels and his SAT's were at 74%.  They immediately put him on oxygen and called 911.


I still struggle with anxiety over David getting sick and that phone call this morning took me back to a place I try to avoid.  Not only was my baby in respiratory distress, but I was also not by his side.  I tried to pull myself together as I rushed to be by his side.

The last time David's oxygen saturation levels dropped that low was on February 23rd, 2012. I took David to the emergency room for a runny nose, and within hours his organs began to fail and I was told that he was not going to survive the night.  I waited by his bedside pleading with God to spare his life and after days of anxiously waiting for David to respond, breath, open his eyes, and smile again, God granted us the miracle I so desperately pleaded for.  It took a year for David to fully recover, but I am the other hand has spent the last three years trying to emotionally heal from the ordeal.

I know that my God is bigger than any fear or circumstance but I still struggle with severe anxiety over the thought of loosing David.  Ironically I don't fear death, my fear having to live life without David.  I continue to lay theses thoughts and feelings at God's feet.  So David and I are going to spend the rest of our day with Jesus as we both recover from our scare.

Throughout the years I have learned that the best way to overcome crisis in your own life is to shift the focus from yourself towards others who might have it worse.

This past week has been draining and I have been attacked in almost every area of my life. Physically I am exhausted. My body aches and I'm fighting a cold. Financially I have been trying to resolve over $3000 of fraudulent charges on my credit card. In addition to all of the other obstacles I have been facing, I found out my mother is in the hospital with pneumonia, leaving me feeling helpless and too far away to help.

Despite everything going on in my life, this morning I decided that instead surrendering to the current state of crisis in my own life, that I would step out in faith and go serve others. No sooner then I pack my car with the food box and headed to deliver it, I got a phone call informing me that my mom is recovering and in stable condition. God is so faithful!

‪#‎pushingthroughthepain‬

I finished up my dental work today, but they were unable to save my crown.  The thought of another expense when I am already overwhelmed by other unexpected expenses got me really upset.  I tried to fight back the tears as I explained to the dentist that I was only going to be able to address our original dental concerns until I could figure out my finances. He left for a minute and then came back and told me that he wanted to make sure that I got all the work I needed, done and he did not want money to be an obstacle.  He then reduced the fee for the second crown by more than half and offered to cap my dental implant that  broke for almost nothing.  

Those concerns and worries were private conversation between God and I.   Once the dentist was done going over the new payment plan I could no longer hold back the tears.  The dentist had know idea that God was going to use him to answer my prayers.  I sat with my mouth open, a drill going, and tears running down my face, I knew God was with me.  #Godisalwaysfaithful

Although I'm seeking answers for David's current choking issues the only information that's been made clear is that we need to start finding new providers for David. I guess there was a recent policy change that is no longer allowing pediatric doctors to cover their patients with special needs until 21, they are now having to transfer to a don't care by the age 19.  This is the very reason I feared his transition to adulthood. iwe found to a great area that doesn't have individualized program.  We are being thrown into a whole new world that is unknown to us.  We are going to be forced to navigate through world that isn't necessarily designed for us, a world that can't accommodate David needs. Although David is an adult, he is mentally a toddler, and physically a teenager. I can't imagine him no longer being allowed to be treated in the pediatric facilities that have been such a comfort to us through out our medical challenges. I guess this is just part of our new world that I  have to get used to.

His neurosurgeon informed us on our last visit that he would no longer get paid for treating David. He even fought to keep him because of how complicated David and his surgeries have been. The only time David had surgery performed by a surgeon who did not know him (only because it was an emergency surgery and his neurosurgeon was out of town) the doctor cut open David's stomach looking for a tube that was still in his head and then sewed up his head leaving a broken shunt in it. It was an extremely traumatic experience that gives me tremendous anxiety about having to trust someone new with my babies brain. I thought this might only apply to specialist, but today at his appointment with his Pediatrician (his Pediatrician since birth) she recommended we start looking for a new provider since she can no longer see him once he turns 19. I have gotten pretty good at adjusting to change, but not when it comes to David's complicated medical issues.

Starting over after it took me 18 years to learn how to navigate through the pediatric system is very overwhelming. I know will get through it, I just need to pray my anxieties away.

When things fall out of place it is often so that better things can fall into place. Our last vacation was incredible but there were some unfortunate mishaps with the airlines that made our trip home very challenging. In the moment I was irritated and over whelmed but as a result of those mishaps David and I were given travel vouchers which made it affordable for me to plan another adventure with him.  All the mishaps and overtime paid off because David and I are Enjoying a much needed break while bonding in Hawaii!

Flushing away my worries with the perspective David gives me.

Flushing away my worries with the perspective David gives me.    

I would carry this kid to the moon and back if I could. David is my God sent angel and there's nothing this mother wouldn't do for her little warrior prince.  David is my strength, my motivation, inspiration, who I learned my courage from, and most importantly he is the one who taught me how to see the world through the eyes of Christ.  

There is no other population closer to Christ, the closest it comes to sin free humans. David doesn't know hate, he doesn't see challenges or obstacles, he has no fear, he doesn't notice differences, he just loves and he loves everyone the same, with his whole heart. Pure and genuine, David's motivation is to share his unconditional love with the world.   

What an honor it's been to be the one chosen by God to care for him.  I was given a unique gift from God that would allow me to see the world from a different perspective.  A beautiful and profound perspective!

After a long week of feeling overwhelmed and defeated I look at David's smile and I am reminded that no obstacle will ever be too big for us. I know that I have to keep smiling and sharing love to honor David's journey. 

As I lay all my burdens at the feet of my Lord and Savior, God takes all of my sorrows and allows me to find delight in my beautiful and extraordinary son.

                                 

18 years later and it still just as difficult when I have to kiss him goodbye as David's put under and off for a procedure. Even mild procedures still require me handing my precious child off to somebody else and praying that God take the wheel. The only way I get through it is to imagine that I'm hand David into the arms of Jesus.  This requires believing in his promises to us and standing firm on the word of God. We are trustful that God protect us.

He always does and always will. Our God is so mighty that he held David's hand and my heart at the same time.

                                

God is so incredible. He never ceases to amaze me with all the abundant blessings he pours into our lives!  Public speaking and sharing our story always empowers me. It is a gentle reminder of how far we've come and all he is done for us.  I am so grateful for all the amazing friends and cheerleaders got his planted in our lives to help us get  to where we are today.

Day 12

I'm grateful for God ordained encounters that have impacted our lives.  I am thankful for DeDe Grogan and the impression that her and her son Seth Ross left on our lives.  

I met Dede right as I started my first year at ASU. I had sacrificed everything I knew to pursue higher education, which included leaving my job to attend school full time.  I did not know how I was going to provide for David and I, but I knew that I could not forfeit the opportunity to be the first person in my family to graduate from college.  I also knew that God would provide for all of our needs. 

Our first Christmas was rough and it was the first time I had no means to support David alone.  I was feeling helpless and wondering if I had made the right decision.  My first encounter with Dede was when she arranged for our family to be sponsored for Christmas.  Little did I know that our relationship would reach far greater than a Christmas sponsorship. Once Dede discovered that I also had a special needs child, with not hesitation she took me under her wing.  

Dede was the first person I had ever met that was living a similar situation as ours.  Up until that point I had very few people who understood the road we were traveling.  I lived a very lonely life, struggling silently.  I was young and still trying to figure life out when God blessed us with Dede and Seth’s friendhip. I have never had the opportunity to share with her how instrumental their friendship has been for us, but now is better than never.  

Dede you graciously taught me how to be David’s hands, feet, voice, and advocate.  You taught me that it was ok to take off my cape from time to time and that there were amazing support systems out there when the load was weighing me down.  On days that I did not have enough energy to seek those supports out on my own you sacrificed your own time to make those connections for me.  You lead by example and you held my hand throughout the way because that is the kind of friend you are!

I remember reaching out to you when David was becoming a teenager and I was struggling with the transition. You invited us to go to functions that Seth was introduced as a teenager. You exposed us to the fun and exciting events that came along with teenage years.  You were also the first person I reached out to when David was becoming an adult.  I knew no matter how long we went without contact you would always be there, and you have.  You have encouraged and cheered me on with private messages that no one but I saw.  Never did a desperate plea for prayers go with out a lovely note of encouragement from you.  You always went above and beyond.  

I just want you know that meeting you and Seth has absolutely changed our lives!  When people tell me what an amazing mom, advocate, or special educator I am, I can help but think of you and the others who helped me grow into who I am today.  You and Seth are both 1 in a zillion.   I hope one day I can be that person for you as well.  I LOVE YOU and I thought you might need to know how much today.

Today I found out that another angel warrior went home to be with Jesus.    DeDe Grogan was one of the first special-needs mom I met while I was getting my undergrad degree.  She took me under her wing and helped introduce me to the world of special needs. Seth Ross took David to his first dance and promised to teach David karate and take him to camp.  He was such an incredible young man!  

I know God has a purpose, but it's really hard to see that through the pain.  I want to believe that these kids are not losing their battle but winning the battle and getting to go our Lord and Savior, but it's a great loss to those they left behind.  Death is so real and close to home right now.  All I can do to cope right now is hold David in my arms and beg him to never leave me!

Day 10  

Life is all about perspective.   I'm grateful for the trials and tribulations in my life because they taught me empathy and grace.  We must trust that God knows what's best for us and sometimes trails are necessary in order for us to gain opportunities to grow.  

I'm just one of those people who can't see all the hurt in the world and not ache for other's souls. I truly hurt for those suffering and long to be a source of comfort in their lives . I desire to be that one person, a cheerleader for someone in need, the person who reminds them that it's going to be OK, GODS GOT THIS!  I would love to be part of helping others restore their hope. My desire to be that person was birthed only from my own pain and agony.  I know the importance of that role because so often those where the people who helped me hold my head up at times.

I know what those dark days feel like and I know how important it's been to have amazing people cheering me on. If could be granted the opportunity to accomplish one thing in my life, it would be paying it forward. The opportunity to  give good back for all the good that  David and I have been blessed with would make every struggle worth it.