Grateful, overwhelmed, humbled, thankful, blessed – these are the emotions I felt today. Twenty amazing people came to support the most important little boy in my life at the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk in St. Louis. They didn’t have to – I know they love and support Moses unconditionally, yet they chose to spend the most beautiful Sunday at Forest Park with Tyson, Josie, Moses, and me. Then there are the other amazing people that bought shirts and/or made donations to show their love and support even though they couldn’t be at the walk. My goal was to raise $500 for this event. We raised over $1,000!

It wasn’t just the support of our family and friends that put my emotions into overdrive today, though. There’s no way to explain how it felt to look at the sea of people that were there today walking for a person with Down syndrome. At one point I caught myself thinking, “I can’t believe this many people are here just for a 1-mile walk.” Then I was close to tears as I thought that it has nothing to do with the walk – it has everything to do with the incredibly special people that it’s for. It’s actually not silly for my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew to drive down from Kansas City for this 4 hour event like I had thought to myself several times over the last few weeks. It’s important to them, it is extremely important to me, and it’s very important to the Down syndrome community.

Grateful, overwhelmed, humbled, thankful, blessed – these are the emotions I get to have because of the people who see my son and others with Down syndrome as people to be celebrated, not mourned or dismissed as they once widely were. From the bottom of my heart and with all sincerity, “Thank you!” to all of you that Step Up for Down Syndrome and Show Mo Love.