March of Dimes: Walk for Babies

Yesterday I was privileged to attend the March of Dimes Walk for Babies. The issue of premature birth is something near and dear to my heart. I was fortunate enough to be blessed with two beautiful, full term babies. And believe that everyone who wants children should be able to have them. All children deserve a healthy start. I pray with the work of The March of Dimes that one day all babies will be full term and healthy.

My dear friend, Michele, who has struggled for years with infertility and then loss of her beautiful children were my inspiration for attending. Through witnessing her and her husbands devastating losses I have come to understand the importance an organization like the March of Dimes.

WC went along with me to the soccer field of the local university. At the walk they passed out different colored bandanna's, each color with its own meaning. I chose to wear a white bandanna- which signified that I was walking in the memory/honor of a child who had been lost to premature birth. They had these lovely bright/sparkle "flowers" on which you write the name of child(ren) and plant in the children's garden. I chose a yellow flower and on the leaves wrote: Nick, Sophie & Alex's names and dates of birth. The photo is posted above- the yellow flower on the far right.

Now it all wasn't serious, WC had a good time on the giant inflatable slide, blew bubbles and made silly putty (which just turned into a rubbery blob that was neither silly or putty). I had him fingerprinted by the local police department. I'm proud to say he came up clean. He passed on the face painting but opted for a laser gun made out of a balloon. The walk started and he bounced down the street shooting bad guys with his laser gun. But then he began to complain about how much further we had to go. I told him that when we were done I'd buy him a milkshake and that pacified him for a time. Then he started to complain again and told me he also wanted a happy meal (upping his demands for cooperation). I never take him to McD's. He's gone with my mom a couple times. And I don't usually bribe him for his cooperation but I made an exception. Fine, we'll get a happy meal and a shake. But a little farther down I notice how red his face is. And neither of us can be accused of having a lot of skin pigment and the whole afternoon has been in the midday sun on a soccer field. At this point we were bringing up the end of the line anyway, so I pulled him out of line and we crossed the street back onto campus and sat at a picnic table under a shade tree until he looked better. We leisurely walked back to the car in the shade of the campus where I'd gone to college. A bit of nostalgia for me along with that I had contributed to a good cause and had a nice time with my son.