We love small miracles, thank you to our mystery donor.

Open letter to our mystery man and his family

I have this little story from last year’s walk that I wanted to share. I have been holding on to it hoping to share even bigger news but I just can’t keep it to myself any longer.

Last year I had a hard time getting on stage and talking to everyone. My parents have always been very supportive of me and Brandon and have always been at every walk. Last year my dad was sick and in the hospital with cancer. So besides them not being there I wasn’t sure I should be there. Though I knew I had to, we had over 2000 guest coming and I also knew my dad would have had security take me out of his room if I had showed up to the hospital. I was about to hop down off the stage after the announcements when a man had walked up and he had a few questions about the walk. I mentioned to him that our walk is run by all volunteers and that we donate the funds to area groups related to Down syndrome and to NDSS. He and his family just happened to be at the park that day and we inspired him to make a nice size anyomous donation to the walk, so much that I almost fell off the stage. He then handed me $2961 cash from his pocket and said it was a down payment. Yes at this point I was freaking out… I graciously thanked him as my eyes weld up a bit. Everyone was waiting for me to start the walk so I had to excuse myself and told him I would be right back after I got the walk started. Well by the time I was able to make it back they were gone. I thought there was a business card stuck in the middle of the cash pile but sadly there wasn’t. So this mystery man is really truly a mystery. I really would love to have given him a hand written thank you and to also explain more about how his money is helping.

As parents of special needs kids we find lil’ miracles in everyday happenings. In my opinion it’s the man upstairs just reminding us of how well we are doing and to never give up. To me this was a sign that I was in the right place at the right time. We touched someone who just happened to be in the park that day.

At this time we haven’t received the other part of the amount that he said he would like to donate but I’m still waiting. Part of the reason I was putting off this post because I wanted to tell you great news that we received it, but I have realized that this is awesome news in itself. We are a bunch of moms, dads, family, teachers, therapists and friends that get together to celebrate Down syndrome and we touched this family that they gave us every cent in their pockets (which was quite a bit!).

This year starts our 10th Anniversary, and starts another year of small miracles.

To our mystery man… I hope you see this and I hope you know how much you have given us and me. It’s not just the money but you stopped to find out more, your gesture gives us hope that more ‘strangers’ will learn about our large family and accept us.

We hope to see everyone at the walk!!

Jen
Chair

 

P.S. Registration is open so be sure to get your team together and get registered for the 2012 Chicagoland Buddy Walk.