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Carnegie Hall To The Boston Marathon
When Kai began piano lessons at age five and Arielle discovered wheelchair road racing in middle school, I had no idea, years later, it would lead to a weekend of watching Kai perform at Carnegie Hall followed by Arielle racing in the Boston Marathon. Describing the amount of joy I’ve felt over the past five days is difficult. Walking through New York City, my eyes suddenly welled with tears knowing I needed to cherish each moment. This was a once in a lifetime weekend. I was proud of my children. Proud that they were following their passions. Proud that they had the courage to take on such huge challenges. Proud of the…
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Gasparilla 15K
Gasparilla 15K! The Gasparilla 15K is a special race to us because it was there, years ago, where Arielle first met her coach Adam Bleakney and his University of Illinois wheelchair racing team. Arielle was in middle school, new to wheelchair racing, and suddenly she was meeting elite athletes. Arielle become inspired, set her sights on attending the University of Illinois, and to one day train with Adam. She achieved that goal and now she’s practicing twice a day to prepare for the Los Angeles and Boston Marathons. Before The Race I picked Arielle up at the airport on Friday evening and we drove straight to Tampa. She was happy to leave behind the freezing weather in Illinois for a sunny…
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College Move-in Day!
I’m not really here. I’m on a blog vacation until September… So much has happened in the last seven days that I just had to share some photos. The University of Illinois is an amazing place! Eric and I wondered why we never chose to have the college after high school experience. What were we thinking? Kai decided he was going to skip high school and head right to college. Arielle was excited, overwhelmed, and ready for her new journey. It began with a packed van. We thought our minivan days were over. We we wrong. An organized mom would have thought to put all those bags in one big plastic bin. Not me. By the way,…
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Glee and the University of Illinois
Having teens is a very exciting time. I get to watch them discover their passions and try to decide which path they will follow after graduation. I play the role of tour guide and gentle counselor. While there is an underlying sadness because I know that soon our house will be too quiet, there is also a joy in seeing their eagerness to explore and experience life as young adults. The night before we left for Champaign, Illinois, Arielle decided to record an audition video for the Glee Project. Unsure about her singing ability she still wanted to go for it and give it a try. Glee has been one of her…
