Thankful Thursday

I have not posted Thankful Thursday for a while but today I thought it was a good idea. Today was the Special Olympics Unified Track and Field day. Caleb and Cayden both went and competed for our school. I wa quite surprised that Cayden participated because the first thing that he said when he woke up was "I don't want to go to the Olympics." He was fussing about it all morning bu then when we got there he ran the 100 meter dash (so did Caleb) and they both did the javelin throw. When it came time to do the 50 meter dash Cayden flat out refused to do it. They did not make him of course so he sat out but atleast he did the other 2 events. So now why I am thankful. I have gone with my boys the last few years and I always drive my car because I am not a fan of the school bus. We got there earlier than the school bus so we had to wait a few minutes. As we were waiting I saw lots of different schools coming in with their kids. This event is for handicapped kids-whether it is mental or physical-and also some non-handicapped from their schools. I saw a few kids in wheelchairs and one that had to wear a helmet to protect their head. I also saw a blind boy with the stick being helped by one of his classmates. The first race we saw of the day there was a little girl probably 4th grade with Down Syndrome who ran her little heart out even though she came in last. I just had this overwhelming sense of gratitude that my kids can see, and run and play even though they have their own struggles. Cayden was asked by the modified PE teacher to participate in these games and she wanted Caleb to come and help with moral support. Cayden almost needs modified PE but they have not tested him yet to see if he qualifies. Even though he has his developmental delays and struggles so much in school he still is progressing and retaining which some of those kids may never do. There is a thought that says if everyone laid out all their problems and struggles on a table that we would most likely want to take our own back and not someone elses. I did not get good pics of the races and I missed Caleb's 50 meter all together because it was just utter chaos on that last race and they did not go in the order they were supposed to but the kids had a good time. I am also thankful that I can go with my kids for these things.