They walked for Holt....they walked for a cure

At the approximate time of my last posting- our 18 year old high school senior next door neighbor came to our house, knocked on the door, pulled Chrissy and I aside and said- "I want to do a walk for Holt to raise money for a cure for Cystinosis". As with everything else we have been faced with here--we didn't know how to react...quite frankly, what do you say...other than ok? We looked at each other and said---ok...

Chrissy and I both were thinking the same thing---this is still early for us--we haven't yet figured out how to deal with all of this---we are still trying to make the adjustments in our lives that we have to in order to be able to deal with all of this---how in the world can we muster up the energy to put in the time and effort required for a fundraiser----we simply aren't ready and dont have any incremental emotions to spare...obviously we want to be able to make this a home run type of event but we just arent ready to put in the time to make it as such...let's send out a few emails to our friends and family and see if we can make it respectable...we thought that this was going to be a "nice" event--simple, small and nice.

Well she sure showed us---more than 150 people came out to walk more than 200 donated and as of now over $15,000 has been collected and apparently more is on the way. Donations came in from as far away as Japan---the kids two doors down emptied their piggy banks and brought in $38.00... a dear friend flew in from Jersey in the morning and flew home after it was over....he brought a check for 5k....a neighborhood kid gave her family massages and raised 40 bucks...the Doerings (the family who put on the event) bought everyone t-shirts----food---drinks--banners---brochures---my pop warner football kids came---my oldest friend (from the 3rd grade) came---people who work with my sister in law (whom i have never met) came--- i could go on and on---it was amazing. At the end of the day, the key takeaway is this- the kindness of the human spirit and the generosity of friends and strangers is remarkable.

All i can say is- thank you--I just wish i could say it in a way that made you all feel the way we feel now--- which i really cannot appropriately put into words.

Love-
Jason and Chrissy