Thanksgiving 2016

    This years  my family was lucky enough to celebrate two thanksgiving  dinners. One with close family and friends in which we  got to catch up with distant relatives we only see on this holiday, but the other dinner, shared with people I may never even meet, was extremely special to my whole family. It was spent at Robb's school, Saint Elizabeth's. I do not think I have ever seen such a joyous Thanksgiving celebration, and seeing Robb's face light up as we entered his school still makes me smile. Robb has always shown me the importance of appreciating both the big and little things in life,  but thanksgiving is a good reminder for me to express my gratitude, so I would like to end this post by saying thank you. Thank you for reading my blog, thank you for listening, and thank you for letting me give a voice to my brother who will never cease to amaze me.

ASA Race

       A couple of weekends ago I was able to attend one of Robb's Athletes Serving Athletes races. In the races, Robb gets to participate in a 5K while getting pushed by a runner. I have always been a little skeptical of these races just because I feel Robb could do some running as opposed to just sitting there while the volunteers do all the work, but I still loved attending the race! It was so much fun to see everyone so excited to be there and cheering Robb on as he crossed the finish line still makes me smile. At a time when there is so much division around us, it felt good to be surrounded by a group of people all working together to make such a fun event. My parents were so inspired that they have decided we are all going to run it next year, but after spending the fall of my freshman year in Cross Country, I am a little reluctant to be out of breath while Robb just looks at me like "run faster." Instead, I hope to get Robb to run some of the race next year, so we can run across the finish line together!

I think the highlight of the race was seeing Robb meet two Ravens cheerleaders after the race.
He not only gave them a big aaaahhh, but also a very enthusiastic happy dance:)

Buddy Walk 2016

 A couple of weeks ago my family participated in the CDSPG's annual buddy walk in celebration of national Down Syndrome awareness month. We have never really been very involved in the Down Syndrome community because since Robb has autism, he has always been different from many of the people we knew with Down Syndrome. It is a very loving, kind environment, but we found our own groups, and though I can never say I have meet anyone quite like Robb, the people in our groups faced similar communication challenges to Robb. Anyway, this year we decided to give the buddy walk a try, and I can honestly say it was a super fun experience. We all put on matching t-shirts, and walked around the Baltimore inner harbor. Robb was so happy, he got blue and yellow flags to wave around, and he and I danced along to 'Piano Man' one of my favorite songs. Everything was so comfortable, and I did not feel self conscious even though my family must have looked ridiculous in our matching t-shirts. There are not many things my entire family enjoys, and between the free donuts, music, and the ride, my parents, siblings, and I had a lot of fun.