Why I Run With Austin

By: TJ

     Why in the world would I want to push a stroller, complete with a 20lb baby, through the blowing wind and flowing hills while trying to complete a race?  There have been a few times when the stroller feels more like a sail or a cart full of lead than a baby carrier that I have asked myself that question.  As I ran this morning, pushing my sweet son Austin, and trying for a personal best at a 10k, I had to block those thoughts and keep pushing on.  In the moments when I thought about taking a  few beats to slow down, Austin would look up at me, smile, and give me one of his patented "thumbs up."  I would know intrinsically that I had to push on and not let the hills beat me.  Since the first half marathon I competed in almost a year ago I have a special shirt that I wear.  It does not sport a logo of a well known exercise company (although I do have more than my fair share of those, much to my wife's chagrin) .  Its not a homage to a great superhero either, although that would be kind of cool.  It's a nice running shirt with the anagram for the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) and a label on the back that says that I'm Austin's dad. A title that I hold sacred and dear above all other titles that I've been given in my life. I never thought that I would find myself running, let alone running while pushing a stroller, but when I chose to start losing weight over two years ago I caught the bug.  After learning about the NDSS and finding out that I could run as a member of their "team," I felt like it would be an awesome opportunity to raise awareness for my son and others like him.   But why run WITH him? Why put myself through the added stress of pushing him when I could just as easily raise awareness by wearing my shirt...

    A few weeks ago at one of our DS group meetings a young lady from a local high school came and gave a presentation.  She had decided to give a speech at her school on Down Syndrome, in large part because she knew one of the families in our group.  After speaking about many of the things we as parents already knew, (third replication of the 21st chromosome,  delayed development, ect..), she began to tell a story.  It was the story of a young kid with Down Syndrome that was loved by his family at home, had friends, and had the things that he loved in this world.  But then one day at school kids started making fun of him. In time, he felt like an outcast and was not accepted socially.  I was expecting that the story would end with one of the popular kids standing up for him. Instead it ended with the young man taking his life.  He chose to commit suicide instead of being ridiculed by his peers.  I was dumbfounded.  That wasn't what I had expected.  I had become so used to the "good" stories of kids and families with disabilities that I had put blinders on to the bad ones.  That begged the question: Do we mostly focus on the good, heart warming stories?  Are there still sad stories out there?  The ones where the child with special needs gets bullied and made fun of?  The ones where those children are driven to frustration and self harm?  The stories of parents that are frustrated by schools that won't listen, or doctor and hospital bills that pile up and wont go away.  Of coarse those stories are out there - numerous ones. I suppose the real question is,  "Are we paying attention or do we have blinders on?"
   Then, at around the same time, a close friend of mine contacted me on the phone.  I was traveling for work and he called to to tell me something that had happened.  That day he had been on his Facebook account when one of his old High School friends private messaged him and others a picture that was degrading to people with Down Syndrome.  There were several responses of "LOL" and "Haha Good one!"  But as my friend looked at the image he felt something else.  He sent his friend a separate private message telling him he thought that the image was in poor taste.  His friend then posted another offensive image, directed at him.  My friend again responded that he thought it was not something that he wanted any part of.  He did that over and over again until it stopped.  That day, he stood up for my son in a way that I didn't expect. He deserves a superhero symbol, one that I would put proudly on my NDSS shirt and represent his heroism in the face of being shunned socially because of his convictions.  I was grateful that he shared that. I was buoyed  up by the fact that if we can touch a life for good, sooner or later things will get better. 



   So, why do I run with Austin?  I figured it out today as I approached the finish line, Austin asleep, and my beautiful wife, Tiffany and our other two amazing children waving us on.  I run with  Austin so that hopefully one day he will be able to run with me, beside me.  So that one day he will be able to run on his own.  So that when the world sends it's worst, he will have something to deflect the worst, and turn it into good.  So that he will know that some days he will run a little slower, and that's OK.  But some days, like I did today, he will have a Personal Record (PR in the running world).  That will make him get on the road, day after day, to reach another Personal Record, and another, and another until the world sees him as more than just a boy with Down Syndrome. Until they see him as a Child, a Young Man, and then a Man.  He will be a man ready and willing to face the world and all the good and bad that's found there.