My brother did something absolutely amazing and wonderful this past weekend...he biked 300 miles to earn money for the Make-A-Wish foundation! He earned over $1,000 to help sick kids dreams come true. I don't think there are many things more honorable than that, and I cannot remember a time I was more proud of him. Way to go, Matt!! You inspire me to do greater things with my life :-)
We were all so excited to cheer Matt on to the finish line and couldn't wait to witness this great achievement in his life....but getting there wasn't as as easy as we thought! There were over 1,000 bikers in the race, so of course they'd each be arriving at different times. Matt had given us an estimated time that he thought he would finish (12:30 or 1pm), so we went with that and planned to leave around 11:30 (it takes about 45 minutes to get there from here). We got back from breakfast around 10:45, thinking we had some time to get ready before we left. Well, long story short, Matt's girlfriend Amy starting checking this program on her phone called Latitude where she was suppose to be able to track where Matt was, and according to that, he was only 10 miles away! We quickly jumped in the car and took off, hoping not to miss his finish. We were all on pins and needles driving there,and my mom and I were nervous wrecks. Once we arrived, we breathed a sigh of relief when Matt texted Amy and said he was still 10 miles away! Apparently her app wasn't working too well, because a few minutes later it told her that Matt was at my parents house! We stopped relying on that, and waited for more of Matt's texts to keep us posted on where he was, Thank goodness he could bike and text! :-) We ended up having quite a bit of time to cheer on the other riders and just observe all the spirit and love that was surrounding us.
The Adrian High School Cheerleaders were there to cheer on each and every biker. So cool to watch! There was also a D.J playing songs like "We are the Champions" which got the crowd going. It was awesome!
Here is one of the "Wish Hero's" waiting for his team to arrive.
Amy checked her phone constantly for updates :-)
And Brett did a GREAT job of entertaining himself during the couple hours we waited. In these two pictures he was super proud of the "orange juice" he had made by combining lemonade and water. Gotta love his imagination!
Watching and waiting for the next group of bikers to cheer on!
And finally, here is Matt (far right) and his team biking to the finish line! Go Matt!!
Way to go, Team Uncle Eddie!
We were so excited and proud of my brother, we had to take lots of pictures!
The best part of the whole event was when Matt and his team got to meet the little 8 year old boy, Christian, that they biked for. He has an Auto Immune disorder and has been in and out of the hospital his whole life. This sweet little boy, as sick as he has been, told Matt that when he gets better he wants to do the bike race so he can help other kids. I think we can all learn a lot from Christian and his determination and heart to help others, even when he is facing such great challenges himself. What a kid!
Here they are getting ready to receive their medals from this unbelievable boy!
Christian's mom and dad could not thank Matt and his team enough for what they did. Observing the heartfelt thanks brought tears to my eyes, and reminded me again how lucky I truly am to have a healthy son. But ya know what? As I think deeper about it, Christian's family is pretty darn lucky too.
Words cannot express the emotions I felt witnessing this amazing event, and it touched my heart and soul in a way I didn't expect. I saw so many sick kids there....bald from chemo, in wheelchairs, unable to run and play like a kid should, yet....most of them were smiling. Most of them seemed happy in that moment. They could feel all the love there for them. These are kids who are stronger than most anyone else because they have to be....and they don't take one happy moment for granted. I am so proud of my brother for making a difference that day...and he inspires me to do the same. Love ya, bro!
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