Can't Sleep. (Post one.)

It is almost 12:30am on Monday morning. Now it is the day after the Buddy Walk. I was overwhelmed during the event and I continue to be keyed-up now. Not overwhelmed by the actual logistics of the event, okay, well, maybe just for a little while as we were trying to pass out t-shirts and explain to everyone that we didn't have mediums or that we were simply running out of t-shirts all together. I still can't believe the response we had at this year's event. I never dreamed in a million years that we would take this from 200 participants to oh, I don't know, over 400. There could have even be 450 people there. I won't know the final count until Anne has a chance to tally the numbers. All I know is it was huge, there were people everywhere and all I wanted to do was cry about it.

I am still crying about it. It was such a perfect, beautiful day. We had so many wonderful volunteers that came out to help. Three that I want to thank that were by my side were Kristine, Tracy, Sandy and their children. They worked tirelessly all day. Give them a job and they did it with a smile. They helped me keep my sanity while we passed out t-shirts.

I don't know how much money we raised today. We are still counting it, but I feel certain that it was over $20,000. I even heard that it might be closer to $25,000. I believe that our family raised $2800. These amounts are unprecidented. That's one of the reasons I get teary-eyed just thinking about it. So many of you sent money in honor of Ryan. I'd go to the mailbox and on some days there would be two or three checks waiting on us. I am deeply touched and I thank you all.

I think I am also teary because I don't have a single picture. I had two cameras at the Buddy Walk and didn't take the first picture. I believe I was so overwhelmed trying to keep everything moving that I never felt like I could take a second to give the cameras to Rourk. That's probably hard to understand, but let 400 people converge on you within an hour and you'll understand. I have my fingers crossed that some of my friends got a couple pictures of Ryan. My sweet, sweet boy that fell asleep before the walk even started and didn't see the 100s of butterflies released in his honor.

And finally I can't help but cry because planning this Buddy Walk brought me closer to my son. I'll never be able to find the words to explain this to you. It's impossible, but I know it is true. Since May, I have told our story over and over to friends, family and perfect strangers as I have solicited money, in-kind donations and made arrangements for this walk. I shared it without hesitation because I started believing that our story can make a difference. I started thinking that my son can change how people with intellect disabilities are viewed.

I do believe that.

I am going to try to get a few hours of sleep now. I'll post any pictures that happen to come my way. I'll also post the results too. You know, money raised, walkers. All that statistical stuff.