A good cause

My 2nd 5K was yesterday - a fundraising race for my friend Nicole's family. Her son Karsen was in an accident a little over a year ago (shortly after Steve lost his job). As a result, Karsen lost his left leg about his knee just a little after his 3rd birthday. It has been such an emotional, physical and financial trial for their family - time in the hospital, surgery after surgery, a "transformer leg" and then problems, more surgeries and then a new prosthetic limb. Things were looking good as they approached the 1 year mark. They had gone to New York and gotten a new leg and he had learned to walk for the 3rd time in his life (once as a baby, once with the first "transformer" leg and then with the prosthetic) ... until he fell off of a toy at the park and broke the bone in his left thigh. Body cast - above belly button to below knee on both legs for 6 weeks. Nicole is one of the Mary Kay directors I work for and lives in Salt Lake. Watching her go through this trial has truly inspired me, reminded me to count my blessings and to rise above my challenges. On days when I'd start to feel sorry for myself due to Steve's job situation, I'd read a comment on Facebook or her blog and just be grateful for my challenges. She took the high road and has an amazing positive attitude and is very optimistic about things. When I've been down, I remind myself life could be worse. This challenge shall pass. Nicole will face this challenge every day as she raises Karsen and Karsen will face it every day of his life and yet, she is grateful it wasn't worse. She has taught me so much.

Anyway, this weekend they held a 2nd annual Run Karsen Run 5K fundraiser. I was honored to participate and support her family and her desire to "pay it forward". They donated a portion of the funds to Shriners who has been such a blessing to them during all of this.

Karsen rode in a bike stroller which his dad pushed the first block or two and then Nicole pushed him the rest. My girls and I went to the race. They rode their scooters while I ran (most of if). I was still pretty sore from my 5K last week and walked a bit (including when I had to loop back to meet Alyssa who had gotten my sweatshirt stuck in the wheel of her scooter). Thanks Nicole and Karsen for inspiring me! And thanks for letting us be part of a great cause and reminding us to "pay it forward" and count our blessings.

Karsen will get his cast off in about 2 weeks. If anyone else wants to donate to this cause (or read their story)... visit her blog at http://www.karsenmery.blogspot.com/ ... just be prepared to cry because the story is tear jerking.