Golfing "Fore" Parker was a huge success and I feel that the best way to express our emotions and heartfelt thanks is to share with everyone the speech I wrote for the event. We are truly blessed.....A lot of people measure success by the job they have, the car they drive or the amount of money they have sitting in their bank account. Since the birth of our precious son, Parker, success has taken a much more significant meaning for our family. To us, our success as parents has been giving Parker a fighting chance at life and doing whatever it takes to ensure that this happens. We quickly learned as parents that although material things and luxuries are a bonus in life- they mean absolutely nothing if you do not have the health of your family members to share it with. From the moment Parker was born, he changed our life forever. Before we even knew Parker was sick, we did know that we would always do everything in our power to protect him and love him unconditionally.
When we found out that Parker was very sick it felt like our worlds had been turned upside down. We were two young parents with two good jobs. We were living in a nice, new home and were surrounded by family and friends who could not wait to play a significant role in our baby's life. It felt like our "perfect" world had fallen apart in a matter of seconds and completely surreal. The immediate sense of denial and that there was no way this could possibly be happening to us were initial emotions we experienced. Although this confusion, anger and sadness were upon us, we knew we had to be strong for this sweet innocent baby who was counting on us to help save his life. So that is what we attempted to do. With every ounce of our beings, we focussed on trying to make Parker remain as healthy as possible and infection free.
From the very beginning, Parker has always been a very special little boy- our miracle baby. He has beaten most odds and has been fighting a disease that most children succumb to by the age of 2. Besides his obvious problem of being born without an immune system, Parker is essentially a very normal and happy two year old. We are extremely fortunate that he does not experience any of the negative side effects such as hearing loss, neurological issues or failure to thrive that are often associated with SCID.
For those of you who are blessed to be parents you can relate to me when I say that there is nothing in this world that you would not do for your children. I would give up my life in a heartbeat for Parker and never think twice about doing it. We have tried to do our best for Parker. We both took a two year leave from our jobs as teachers and were extremely diligent in keeping Parker as protected as possible. However, this would not be possible without the support and love from people like you. We will never be able to express the gratitude and appreciation we have for everyone who has enabled us to help give Parker a normal life. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such positive energy, love and generosity. For this we will always be extremely thankful.
We would like to thank a few people who have made this event so successful today. First of all to Anna for planning this event to begin with. We are so appreciative of everything that you and our family have done for us. Even with your own health issues recently you have still done everything in your power to make sure that this event happened and we thank you and love you very much.
Laura- thank-you so much for offering to help Anna from the get go. You have been friends with Kevin for many years and the gift of a true friend is something that we are all blessed to experience in a lifetime. Your dedication and all the time you and your family and friends have put into this is very much appreciated.
Shannon- well you were always the big sister I always wanted and I have always looked up to you. Your support and love has proven that no matter how much time lapses amongst friends- a true friend will always shine through when you need it. Thank-you so much for everything that you and your family has done to make this day.
Josephine- We are blessed that Parker has such amazing godparents. Time and time again you always try to find a way to help keep us going. Thank- you so much for everything that you and Kyle do for our family.
Lastly to my parents and family for their continued love and support and all of the hard work they put into the success of this event as well.
I know that there are many other people who have helped by either selling tickets, graciously donating items or volunteering their time to make this day so special. So many of you traveled a great distance on a Sunday of all days to show your support to our family. We sincerely thank each and every one of you for sharing in this day and making it possible.
May 18th marked a very special day for our family- one year since Parker had his gene therapy. Although, we still have a ways to go, we do know that Parker will eventually live a very normal life. This is all we have ever wanted and prayed for and we will continue to ensure that such a brave and precious little boy fulfills every dream that we all have for him.
Thank- you so much.
