5k . . . or 5 mile walk for diabetes

On April 19th, Bree and I joined my mom and a team of ladies from her office in a 5K Walk for Diabetes. The organization that we were supporting is the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (http://www.jdrf.org/). We raised over $1,000 (Bree and I raised $150 the day before the walk). We really enjoyed the day. The foundation had a terrific kids area with moonbounces, crafts, face painting, tattoos, you name it. There was a live band (at 8am!!) as well as breakfast and lunch. We walked the course around the Frederick Community College campus after joining in a jazzercize warm-up with a gal in her early 60s and a very loud song from the 1980s. There were 500 people participating.

Apparently, we walked 5 miles rather than the planned 5K, which is only 3.1 miles. They didn't tell us how many times to walk the course, but had little shoes staked along the course that you were to follow. We noticed on the 2nd lap that the crowd had thinned dramatically. We just thought everyone was cheating . . . It was a terrific day with great weather in the 70s - Bree was a good girl in tow in my Ergo backpack and we made some new friends. And raised $ for diabetes research.

We walked in honor of my dad, Dan, and my grandfather Buddy Benson. We also walked for Elaine Gleaton's dad Chuck, Rick Brace and Tim Blaser from my work, Carole Larsen's husband Pinoake and Amy a previous employee in Planning. Our other sponsors were Harris Bradley and Kristin Turner. Thanks to everyone who supported us!!

Here are some pics from the big day . . .

Passing of Pop Pop McLelland

Our Pop Pop passed away this past Sunday. A year ago, he found out that he had myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder (autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recognize its own constituent parts as self, which results in an immune response against its own cells and tissues) that inhibits the normal neuron response from brain to muscle. The result is that your voluntary muscles do not work because they can't receive the brain signal (breathing, swallowing, and moving limbs can be affected). The initial treatment was very intense and while in the hospital, he had a stroke affecting his right side and speech.

It was a very difficult year for Pop Pop physically as he built back his body's strength and mentally/emotionally as he learned to speak again and attempted to deal with his new reality. He never "fully" recovered to the point where he could drive, run errands alone, take the boat out, that kind of thing, which was frustrating for him. But, he was blessed with many visitors over the year and of course the company and care of Grandma.

Bree, Jason and I will miss Pop Pop dearly. We will forever hold his memory in our heart. Pop Pop was always there for us and we will remember him for that. We thank him for his devotion to our family and for providing us with strength and guidance when we needed it. Be at peace Pop Pop. We love you.