Who Will You Run, Walk or Dash For?| Team Sarah| GiGi’s Playhouse 2016 5k
Time to hear from another awesome team participating in the GiGi’s Playhouse Syracuse 2016 5k! The Stover family has been helping and cheering on GiGi’s Playhouse Syracuse since day one! We are always happy to have Becky share her words here on the blog. We know Team Sarah will once again bring a lot of joy to our event!
Do you know what August 20th is? It’s Sarah’s 4th Birthday! I am so beyond excited for this year’s GiGi’s Playhouse 5K, because not only do we get to celebrate all the things that make GiGi’s Playhouse so special, we also get to celebrate Sarah! When I was asked to write about what Team Sarah represents this year, I thought long and hard about my little girl. I combed through memories for the past 4 years and what both GiGi’s and Sarah have meant for me. GiGi’s Playhouse Syracuse was there to welcome us with open arms when we had no idea what this journey would entail, and for that I will be forever thankful. Through the years, we have watched the playhouse grow with Sarah, and have attended classes there as well as parties, all of which have been amazing. I could go on forever about everything the playhouse has been for us, but being that this year is on Sarah’s birthday, I want to put some well-deserved attention on her.
See, this little girl is changing the world. She doesn’t know it yet, but she inspires me every single day. People have told me countless times that I am strong, but the truth is I’m not. I get scared, I get sad, sometimes overwhelmed. But Sarah has shown me her determination and perseverance time and time again, and she makes me a better person. The most recent example of this was this past May. Many of you may already know that while on vacation, Sarah broke her leg on the last day. But what you don’t know, is that just a few hours later, I was a patient in that same Emergency Room. I sat in a dark room and sobbed as the radiologist explained that the heart had stopped beating on the baby I was pregnant with. So there we were, just 24 hours later, heading back up to NY, Sarah and I broke in so many ways. As I unpacked our suitcases, putting away the maternity clothes I now had no use for, I felt lost. How in the world can I fix her, when I am hurting so much myself? We have a way in our family of filling in Sarah’s inner monologue. She gets these looks on her face, and you can tell exactly what she is thinking. Well, that day she scooted on her butt over to me on the floor, looked up at me and saw my eyes brimming with tears. “Well Mom, this is what we have been given. It’s not ideal by any means, but soon we will be just fine. So what should we do for now? Because I’m not going to waist a single second feeling bad for myself, so I don’t think you should either.” And she scooted away. She scooted. I say that because within a few days after breaking her leg, she realized she couldn’t walk on it, but she learned to pull herself around as fast as any walker. She spent no time feeling bad for herself, all her time was spent adapting, moving forward, and never looking back. Once they moved her to a shorter walking cast, there was NO STOPPING THIS GIRL! She popped up on that thing and was off and running. “See, Mom, I told you all along, we are going to be ok”. Time does wonderful things, and even though she and I may feel the pains every now and then of what we went through, every day we are healing together. Always moving forward, adapting, trusting life has something so wonderful in store for us right around the corner. Sarah and I will be at the run this year, her cast will most likely be off and I have no doubt that she will be dashing alongside her friends even it is not. After taking a few years off, I have also decided to run this year again. Because if she can, I figure I can too.
So, what does Team Sarah represent this year? Team Sarah is strength, resilience, perseverance. It’s giving more when you’re certain you have had enough; it’s standing up when you are knocked down. Team Sarah is determination. It’s a celebration of love and life and all the good and bad that comes with it. It’s that little inner monologue telling me “we got this, Mom”.
Sarah shows us her “Strong Girl” pose.
Please consider joining Team Sarah this year at the GiGi’s Playhouse Syracuse 5K on August 20th 2016. Help us celebrate this wonderful center and this amazing child. Come catch a little of her contagious spirit that day, and I promise you will be inspired.
Friends, we are one month away from 5k, the early bird price will end on August 5th, so be sure to register now and save $10 per person! If you have any questions or need any help please feel free to email syracuse@gigisplayhouse or call (315)288-PLAY.
educate.inspire.believe.
