A thank you note

The other night, we hosted a fundraiser at a local Pizza Hut.  It's really simple, actually.  You just contact your local store, and tell them you would like to hold a fundraiser for your organization.  They made up a flyer and emailed it to me, and we were able to print them off and email them out to our friends and family.  Facebook was also a great advertising tool.  I had to sign a contract agreeing to the terms they have set up, and we were ready.  If you bring in $200-500 in sales, you get 10% of the proceeds; $500-$1,000, you get 15%; and over $1,000, you get 20%.

We arrived at 5:00, and there were 4 families seated already.  As we walked around to talk with them, more and more people kept coming through the doors.  By 6:00, we were looking around the room at a packed restaurant.  There were extra chairs being pulled up and groups standing at the front door waiting for a table.  Some of the waitresses said they have NEVER seen a fundraiser do this well, and some even said they have never seen it be so busy. 

When I looked around, and every table was someone there for Kamdyn, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with emotion.  To think, all those people were there for her.  They were there to physically show their support and their love for our girl.

I remember the day after Kamdyn was born, and the words "Down syndrome" came spewing out of our pediatrician's mouth, like daggers.  Those words were knives in my heart.  I didn't know how my heart would be able to love her.  I thought that other people would pity her and not accept her.

But as I sat in that crowded restaurant, surrounded by people who love Kamdyn, it once again reminds me how wrong I was.  Kamdyn has taught me how to love, how to really have faith, how to see beauty in all the little things.  And I feel in my heart that she is teaching those same lessons to others as well.  It's hard to believe that I ever thought it would be hard to love her, because I can tell you that loving her has been the easiest thing I have ever done.

And looking around that room, it is clear how easy it is to love her, because she is one loved little girl.

We raised some money, but that is not what I will remember.  That night will be a night that I will hold in my heart forever.  When a day comes, and I am down, because I heard an inconsiderate comment or endured a rude stare, this will be the day that I will pull out of the files of my memories. 
So for that, I thank everyone who was there to support us and show their love for Kamdyn.  I thank every person who held us up when we needed it.  For every word that told us that we could do this.  Thank you for lifting us up.  If there is ever anything I can do to lift you up, I hope you will know where to come, because it would be my honor to lift someone for even just a portion of what we have received.