Munchkin

Today was Drew's first rehearsal with the Sterling Civic Theater for The Wizard of Oz. He is a munchkin, along with about 100 other kids. Tonight, we practiced a song that the munchkins will sing. He loved every second of it. He loved the activity of it; patiently listened to the director and others talk about what is expected of them, and took a short walk in the halls of Stevenson High School with Aunt Joanie while I took notes before practice.

This is a class-act all the way, so far. The people in charge talked about a zero tolerance policy for bullying, cyber or otherwise. They will only accept acceptance of every member of the cast and crew. They stressed the importance of taking ownership in the play, being on time, and committing to the success of the production. This will be a very cool experience for us, and I bet it will be the first of many. These people seem to have an organized, well-run, and inclusive program. I appreciate the fact that they welcome diversity and are creating a fun environment where anyone can be involved in theater. Best line of the night was, after they handed out the sheet music with the lyrics and music and we ran thru it a few times...a little girl raised her hand and said 'excuse me...but I can't read!' At which time a 'Drama Mama' (volunteer mom) helped her remember the lyrics. She doesn't have to read--kids have a great memory!

The play will be in July. There are some fundraisers to help offset the cost of insurance and other things, so I am warning you now that I will probably hit you up. :) Thanks for checking in!!

Bionics, Olympics, and the Yellow Brick Road

Weird title, I know. But there are a few exciting things in our near future. Currently, Drew is breaking in a schedule for 'Wearable Therapy' from Axiobionics.

It is electrical stimulation pads sewn into a custom made garment (left and right arm sleeves) to control his spastic tone and try to re-educate the brain to lessen the abnormal tone patterns. It is pretty cool, and he tolerates the e-stim pretty well. It cycles and alternates the current to the spots on his arms that work against him, when he is trying to have purposeful movements of his arms and hands. We are hopeful that this will lessen his tone so he can learn how to make his arms and hands work like he wants them to!
Drew also got chosen for the Summer Games of MI Special Olympics. He will be competing in swimming and another event. The best thing is, he is going with his BFF Maddie! They get to stay (with the teachers that are taking them) in the dorms at CMU! They will travel together, do the events together, and sleep in the dorms. He will feel sooooooo independent! I will be close by, watching and cheering them on in their adventure!! I am excited, but know as it gets closer I will be a wreck! He and Maddie will have a ball tho. They love fun!
The other cool thing is that Drew's Aunt Joanie found a posting in the paper about the Sterling Civic Theater welcoming people with special needs for their summer production of 'Wizard of Oz'. They are open auditions for anyone, but they want our kids involved. I thought that was so cool. We took Drew for the audition on Wednesday and he loved it! He loved the dancing part more than the singing...we will see where he fits in. He got so excited, and he just loves to be involved in anything. I will keep you all updated on the Olympics and how the auditions are coming!
Peace!!

Bittersweet Symphony of Life

This week is the hardest on me and Chris. Drew's birthday is March 27th. The days leading up to his birth were filled with excitement, wonder, hope, and promise. As I got closer to his due date, 10 years ago, I asked my tummy every day 'do you want today to be your birthday?' We didn't know if our baby was a 'he' or a 'she'. We didn't want to. We believe that God has a plan for all of us; that as long as our baby was healthy, we would be happy. Our family would be happy. We trusted God. Still do.

Drew's birthday is always bittersweet for us. It was the best and worst thing that ever happened to us. Best, cuz we had our beautiful, perfect son. Worst, cuz his birth resulted in such damage to him that his life would be filled with extra challenges, obstacles, difficulties, and disappointments that most others are obilvious to. We are grown, and can handle ANYTHING that life can throw at us. He, on the other hand, is an innocent angel that has to battle not only his body every minute of every day, but society and insurance companies and ignorance and stupidity and close-mindedness and...I could go on and on. The purpose of this blog is to 1)let everyone know how cool Drew is, 2) to urge everyone to see the value in everyone, 3)to educate people that God shows himself in all of us, especially in the 'least' of us. 4) to remind us that everyone needs help--use your gifts to help others when you can.
Boogie (cuz we boogie down...he loves music) is a cool kid who has made more strides in 10 years than most do in a lifetime. Please, when you see kids or adults that are different, just treat them like they (and you)would want to be treated. With basic respect, and with God's grace. I am gonna quote one of my favorite artists, Pink. She seems to have a great understanding of our people. Misfits. Those who don't fit in, for whatever reason. Me. You. All of us, at one time or another. Her lyrics: 'Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel that you're nothing, less than perfect...to me...'
Peace.

Life is Ridiculous...

I said it on my FB page, and I will say it again: Life is Ridiculous! I don't know if it's the long, cold, lonely winter or just bad Karma, but there is a lot of crap going on now with people we love. Betsy, my very, very, very great friend and reminder of 'you need to blog about Drew more often!' is going thru some stuff. She is tough; I don't doubt for a second that she will come out on top, after bossing several medical professionals around and making some sweeping policy changes. That is one thing she is great at: making people take notice of things that need to be improved/changed/re-done. There are a million other things I could list too. She has my vote if there is an election to rule the world. She told me once that Drew had 'spirit'. That was the nicest way anyone has ever described horrible meltdowns and seemingly endless tantrums. Most of which occured when we were trying to talk on the phone! LOL
I still refer to those things as 'spirit'. Thank you for that, Beth! That, and million other things that I don't even have to refer to cuz you can read my mind! I know you are an avid follower of Drew's blog, and I hope you know that across the miles, we are thinking of you, praying for you, and missing you like crazy. You ROCK.

Everyday Heroes

We are so blessed to have such great people in our lives. Our family and friends are so important to us; they inspire us, balance us, and enrich us. Almost 10 years ago, Drew's traumatic birth resulted in cerebral palsy, and our lives changed drastically. Our priorities changed. Our outlook changed. We slowed down. We now notice and appreciate the little things in life, and success is measured in Drew's smiles and how comfortable he is. We try to see the big picture, and even though we don't know what the future holds, we are trying to follow our path.

Drew is never happier than when we are up north at the cottage, especially at a Bar/Restaurant called 'Hank's'. Hank's is near our cottage, and we go in there every time we are up. The food is great, the atmosphere is welcoming, and Drew is treated like a Rock Star. Over the years at Hank's, we have gotten to know an incredible group of people who are loving, supportive, and genuine. Some of them are part of a group called the Wertz Warriors, founded by Vic Wertz in 1982 to raise money to fund the Special Olympics. His vision has grown, just as the group has. These Warriors raise money all year 'round for the Special Olympics, leave their jobs and families and homes in the dead of winter for a 900 mile snowmobile trail ride that stretches from Metro Detroit to the opening ceremonies of the Winter Special Olympic Games in Traverse City. Once there, they spend the first hours giving the athletes rides on the snowmobiles and rocking their worlds!

This past weekend, Drew was honored with a green Wertz Warriors jacket by the local crew (Colleen, Jack, Jan, Rachel, Joe, Beth, Koz, Shelly, Brian and Winnie & the rest of the helpers) and declared to be an honorary member of this selfless group. We were so touched and so proud that Drew is so loved. This group raised over $35k for SOMI this year alone! Wertz Warriors as a whole group--over 80 members--has raised $8.5Million in the past 30 years. Incredible. I am always in awe of every day heroes, those who go beyond themselves to help others.

I have always felt that kids have an innate ability to know people's souls. Drew has felt so comfortable with this group for as long as I can remember. He positively LIGHTS up when we see them, or even at the mention of his Hank's friends' names.

We thank God for the people in our lives that accept Drew and love him like we do. For those who can see HIS spirit, as he sees theirs. Thank you.

Winter so far...

We had a fun-filled Christmas with family, and Drew received a lot of wonderful gifts. He loves when the family gets together--loves the activity, togetherness, and most of all, loves seeing his cousins, aunts and uncles! We always miss the Annessa's and Johnny and (usually) Matt, but he was able to come home on leave from the Army for a few weeks. It was great seeing him and spending time with him.

Drew loved messing up the tree again this year...good thing I had all plastic ornaments. I learned my lesson from last year :)

We started the New Year at the cottage, with the Madigans. It was a great weekend filled with board games, Wii, football (of course!), card games, great food and great fun. The only unfortunate thing was it rained instead of snowed, like I had hoped.. We wanted to go snowmobiling! The kids, Chris and Jim had a snowball fight after midnight on NYE with the remaining snow, so I guess they got to play in it a little. I have no idea how to organize the pics, but I hope you enjoy them!

I am counting down the days till our 'January is over' party. It is my least favorite month (like most people's!) and as of today, we only have 22 days left! WAHOOOOOO! Stay warm, and I hope 2011 brings you many blessings.

SNOW!!

This pic is from last year, sledding at the cottage!


Today is December 1st, and we woke up to snow. I hope that is a good sign...if it's gonna be cold, it might as well snow so we can play in it! I hope we get tons so we can go snowmobiling up north. I also hope that the plows and ice trucks are on their J-O-B for around here!! LOL
I actually have some Christmas spirit this year! Maybe it's the tree that Chris put up the first week of November. Maybe it's cuz my Christmas spirit has been missing the past few years. Either way, I don't sigh and roll my eyes when I hear a Christmas song and actually tune into the Christmas station. Although, only when Drew is in the car! He loves it.
He also loves 'King of Queens'! Found out by accident, channel surfing. He seems to understand the subtle and not-so-subtle humor, and I think he likes the expressiveness of the actors too. He used to LOOOOOOOVVEE 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' too, but it's not on anymore that I can find. :(
Happy December, friends! Peace to all of you.