1 year || Giving Back

"Jesus I sing for,
All that you've done for me."
[jeremy.riddle]


A Mouse told his mother and father that he was going on a trip to the seashore.
"We are very alarmed!" they cried. "The world is full of terrors. You must not go!"
"I have made my decision," said the Mouse firmly. "I have never seen the ocean, and it is high time that I did. Nothing can make me change my mind."
"Then we cannot stop you," said Mother and Father Mouse, "but do be careful!"
The next day, in the first light of dawn, the Mouse began his journey. Even before the morning had ended, the Mouse came to know trouble and fear.
A Cat jumped out from behind a tree.
"I will eat you for lunch," he said.
It was a narrow escape for the Mouse. He ran for his life, but he left a part of his tail in the mouth of the Cat.
By the afternoon the Mouse slowly climbed the last hill and saw the seashore spreading out before him. He watched the waves rolling onto the beach, one after another. All the colors of the sunset filled the sky.
"How beautiful!" cried the Mouse. "I with that Mother and Father were here to see this with me."
The moon and the stars began to appear over the ocean. The Mouse sat silently on the top of the hill. He was overwhelmed by a feeling of deep peace and contentment. [Fables, Arnold Lobel]

One year of:

• A journey I thought I couldn't handle.
• Sickness I thought I wouldn't get through
• Trusting, hoping, and praying for a miracle
• Complete remission

I could tell you all about how this past year was one of the hardest years of my life. But I could also tell you that in this past year I have been completely healed and what I am doing to give back to the community.

Autism is a "neurological disorder that impairs and individual's ability to communicate, form relationships with others, and relate to their surroundings" (autismspeaks.org). Autism now affects 1 in 88 children, and 1 in 54 boys. It is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the United States and more children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes, and cancer combined. And unfortunately, there is no medical detection or cure for autism.

So, why am I sharing this with you? I have the privilege to be apart of the Council for Exceptional Children, Towson USG chapter. On Saturday, students from the Towson program are going down to Washington DC to walk for Autism Speaks.

I am typically not that person who asks for donations from people, but as a group we are trying to raise money that will benefit Autism Speaks for future research. Check out the Autism Speaks website to see why this is such an important issue, and consider donating to our effort of promoting autism awareness. Even if it is one dollar, every little bit counts in the long run.

All the miles of a hard road are worth a moment of true happiness.
That is why I am choosing to walk for Autism Speaks.

New Friends + New Places

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says 
to another: 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'"
[c.s.lewis]

Friendship is an amazing concept to me. I am extremely grateful for all the friends I have made in the 9 1/2 years of being in Maryland. But if you were to ask me where I met all these people or how we became such good friends, I honestly couldn't give you an answer. Maybe it's just that my brain is getting old. But this new friend, I remember meeting like it was yesterday.

To begin this story we need to time travel all the way back to 2004. We had just moved and we were beginning our school year. Leo was going into 7th grade and I was going into 9th grade. We were so incredibly blessed to make friends from the very start. Why is this part of the story relevant? Well, since 7th grade Leo has had four really close friends, and one of those friends is Riley.

Fast forward to March 2012. It was the weekend we had just found out I was sick and I had come back home. It was also the last weekend of the annual Youth Drama play. I was standing in the back of the auditorium talking with some friends when all of a sudden Riley comes over to me excitedly. [side note: since I had been away at school for a year and a half I didn't really talk to many of Leo's friends. So having Riley purposefully come over to talk to me was a little strange.] Anyways, he came over to me, enthusiastically said "Hi Andi. This is my girlfriend Kelsey." Before I could properly introduce myself and say "Hi. It's nice to meet you" Riley saw someone else he knew and rushed over to introduce Kelsey to them.

After our brief introduction I didn't see much of her that summer. She lives up in Pennsylvania, so she only comes and visits every few weeks. But when she did come down it was typically during an admin weekend and she would graciously help us out, even though she didn't have to at all. She came to help at our annual youth retreat last August, she has come to several monthly youth meetings, she has used her exceptional decorating skills to help make a boring gymnasium beautiful for our Junior/Senior banquet in the spring, she has even been gracious when the guys on the admin team joke around with her. [Kelsey Farmer. dum-da-dum-da-dum-dum-dum]

Kelsey had always come down to visit us, so I thought it was about time that someone other than Riley go up to Pennsylvania to visit her for the weekend. We ate sushi, painted our nails, watched a movie, had a photo shoot at Longwood Gardens (seriously the best place ever), made curtains and suffered from sharpie highs at their youth meeting, and over all had an excellent bonding experience. We talked about anything and everything. Her family and friends were generous and kind [who knew that people not from the south could be kind?!] And by the end of the weekend, I was known as "Kelsey's friend from Maryland... who wasn't Riley."

Being at Longwood gardens almost felt like you were in a Jane Austin movie. It was that beautiful. If you are ever in West Chester I highly recommend you go here. We only spent maybe two hours there and didn't even see everything. I'm pretty sure you could spend an entire day there.

The thing I loved about Longwood Gardens was the variety of places you could go. They have a conservatory, a meadow, a bell tower, small waterfalls, multiple garden areas, and being there is extremely breath-taking. Some of you may not be "nature people" and that's okay. You should still go visit, because even the bathrooms are cool. Only at Longwood Gardens will you see plants growing on walls as you walk to the bathrooms. If that isn't an excuse for you to go visit, I don't know what else is.

Kelsey - I loved coming up to visit you despite my crazy school semester. Thanks for showing me Longwood, modeling for an impromptu photo shoot, protecting me from humiliation when we went to get our sandwiches, and dragging me around to all of your admin events. The weekend was too short, but I am so glad that you are dating one of my brother's best friends, which allows you to come down and visit every month.

Until our next adventure together...