Buddy Walk 2015

September 12th 2015
National Down Syndrome Society - Buddy Walk - Crown Point, IN.

The last 3 years, my wife and I have been attending the Chicago land Buddy Walk. It's a pretty big event in a very large park and typically has a lot of fun things to offer the families in attendance. This year, we decided to attend the one that was much closer to home but is a little smaller and offers a little less.

It didn't start of very well. GPS insisted that we take a road that was entirely closed, resulting in an additional half hour's worth of side-roads and backtracking. During some of this backtracking it began to rain which we know would definitely impact the "walk" part of the function for which  it was named. Not to mention that my three year old is currently in the "why?" phase which results in an unanswerable series of questions that must be -- at least partially -- designed to frustrate parents. In the end, what should have been a 35 minute drive turned into about an hour and 15 minutes worth of one that soured my mood considerably.

When we arrived, long behind the family members that we were meeting there, the registration booth was already closed. Luckily we ran into workers from the booth and we able to still receive our annual t-shirts commemorating our presence at the event. A mild blessing in disguise, the walk had been postponed an additional half hour due to the rain, which gave us just enough time to get there, find the rest of the family, and participate in the actual Walk. I am grateful for that. It's also worth noting, that this walk was a little bit shorter making it achievable for my 3 year-old to complete without having to be carried.

It's also worth mentioning, there was this bee that was hell-bent on being disruptive. It followed my family the duration of the walk. Buzzing and flitting from person to person causing screams, running away, and the flailing of arms typically associated with facial fires. I secretly named it "hemorrhoid" due to where it was metaphorically causing me pain.

All in all, despite the drive, the weather, and the hemorrhoid bee we enjoyed the Buddy Walk as it's a cause we feel strongly about. There was a good crowd there. We love being a part of any function that involves Down Syndrome awareness. If you don't personally know or haven't met someone with Down Syndrome, you're missing out.

As always, the Hungry Writer abides...