2022 TCS New York City Marathon

As many of you know, I received a pre-diagnosis of Down syndrome for my son when I was 13 weeks pregnant. When you receive this diagnosis a lot of thoughts cross your mind and it is normal to experience some grief in the loss of an image that you had of a typical child. Chris and I were very fortunate to have caring physicians and medical staff that were quick to tell us during ultrasounds that our baby looked "perfect" and "healthy". I quietly connected with other families that had a child with Down syndrome on social media. I was not ready to reach out to them, so I read blogs and looked through FB feeds of children with Down syndrome. When Tommy was born our pediatrician called him "her Little Bean" and gushed over his red hair and perfect complexion. She set up a dinner for us to meet up with another family in her practice who had a 17 year old with Down syndrome. Again....we were lucky. This is not the experience that many families experience when they receive a Down syndrome diagnosis. This is why I love the Hope Story foundation. The Hope Story provides literature to medical professionals so they will know how to share this diagnosis to families that will inspire them and comfort them. Hope Story will support the families so they can do their research in silence (like I did) or connect personally to another family who has a child with Down syndrome. Community is an important part of this diagnosis and that is what Hope Story does. 

Running the NYC marathon has always been a dream of mine. I have entered the lottery over a dozen times and my number was never drawn. The fact that I applied to run with Hope Story once and was immediately accepted feels like a sign to me. I need to use my love of running to share the message of Hope to my friends and community.

Your donation helps Hope Story provide resources, support, and hope to families whose child has received a Down syndrome diagnosis. Thank you for considering our runners as they work hard to meet their goal of running the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon!

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