Can!

There are many things that I do in my life that I would have never done before Anthony. Before Anthony was born I avoided public speaking even in my work as a Human Resource Manager, I would do all the work to prepare and have my assistant do the presentation if it meant standing on a stage. Today I do many presentations, before study bodies at assemblies, before rotary clubs, college students, legislators, hospital staff as well as the media and I do it well and I love public speaking. I am now working in the field of social work with the Arc of Spokane assisting families navigate complex systems, provide emotional support, work with many providers in the community and the list goes on. I serve on various organization boards throughout Spokane community such as The Guilds' school board of directors, Sacred Heart Children's Hospital conference planning, Whitworth University Special Ed Advisory board, as well as a couple of auction planning committees in the community.

The work that I do today and the work that my family does is all from our hearts. Our family has always tried to be involved in our community, you know do what we can to make our community a good place to live, but since Anthony we have direction. We are motivated & inspired by Anthony to educate the general population how there are little differences among all man kind, to help take down the barriers put up around people with disabilities by communities, to teach our fellow man that we all have disabilities and abilities.

Over the years I have learned there are many things that I can't do because of my disability of fear. Yeah fear is a disability, it keeps us down and gives us great excuse to not do, step outside our comfort zone. Since the birth of Anthony I have been challenged in many ways to step out of my comfort zone, to take risks, I've been challenged to do public speaking, to take part of social justice movements, surrender control what I can't control. So I have been called to take on a new challenge, one that I have been wanting to be part of , but out of fear of failing I didn't take it on.

About two weeks ago my dear friend Trish asked me if I would train for a sprint Triathlon in July of 2010 and I responded with a "yeah, sure" as she explained to me how this was only a sprint, a nice course on all three events, a family friendly kind of day. I smiled and listened to my friend talk and I realized she had more confidence in me than I had in myself. While this thought was going through my mind and Trish continued to explain this race to me I watched lots of children playing in the park water splash pad. All the kids just played with no limits, no fears, no boundaries and included in this group was my hero Anthony.

Anthony has over come so much in his short six years of life. He lived through life saving open heart surgery at fours days old, he lived through many other health issues that required surgeries and many hospital stays. Anthony has gone through lots of therapies to teach his body to do what we take for granted and he works harder to talk, but he does it all with trust in himself and with pride. While I continue to listen to Trish talk about the tri I also thought about all the parents before me, just 30 years ago fight to keep children like Anthony out of institutions and how these parents had to fight for their children to be in the same schools we attended, how these parents had to fight for equal rights and dignity for their dear children. With these thoughts going through my head I asked myself; whats your excuse? Oh that dang word popped in my head...... FAIL. What the heck! Fail? I had a fear of failing in a triathlon.

Taking on this triathlon would make me focus on me, give me what I want and deserve, time to invest in me. So, with pride and a smile I told Trish I would. So, for two weeks I mentally prepared and I changed what I was eating, started adding different exercise to my day. I am now at a run/walk routine with a goal to be running full time within the next two weeks and biking every other day. Last week I sought the website and registered online for my 1st triathlon! I am excited and ready for this new challenge in my life. If Anthony and others can overcome their hurdles in life and do it with grace, I have no excuse to do something I have always wanted to do.

My goal for this triathlon is train hard all fall and winter, so that when spring rolls around I will be doing all three events. On days that is will be hard, painful or I feel defeated I will look into the eyes of my son and be reminded I have no excuse to not do, I have no excuse to allow fear to defeat me, I'll be reminded of all that we have overcome and kick myself in my butt and move on. I will be reminded of the Hoyt team, a team that I first came upon when Anthony was a newborn. Fail is only a word that does not control me. CAN............http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flRvsO8m_KI (A must see)