Get in Line

I'm glad my mom was in town last night. She popped over for a quick, purely social visit instead of me abandoning her to watch our boys, which is usually the case. She arrived in time to head to the weekly MyTEAM Triumph training run with Teddy and me. My mom's been at two of Teddy's races, so she's familiar with MTT. Last night gave her the opportunity to witness firsthand how amazing this group of people is.

Teddy's angels are the folks in the neon green and bright blue shirts.

I was planning to run with Teddy, which is usually the case. Instead he ran with two of his angels from the Oshkosh 5k, a husband and wife duo. That gave me the opportunity to (nearly die because my co-angel flies faster than me) spend time with another captain. We were the first team back, so I got to watch Teddy's angels run him back to the meeting area. I heard the woman say that she got to hold his hand for half the run because he kept putting his hands on the wheels. It wasn't a complaint. It wasn't "I had to hold his hand. He's really not safe." It was, "I got to hold his hand."

Then, after Teddy's angels complimented Teddy's smile and his personality, they asked if he already has all his angels for the Bellin Run, the next run he's doing. I explained that his running buddy from Michigan from I Run 4 is coming to be his angel, along with her husband. Someone else joked that they'd need to get in line.

After I shot them down on that opportunity, they asked if he liked bike rides. They said they'd love to take him for a bike event if we thought he'd enjoy that. Unfortunately, the bike event they had in mind is when we're on vacation this summer, but how amazing to want to include Teddy in something that isn't even a MTT event!

The icing on the cake was when I finally pulled Teddy away from the large truck that stores all the race chairs. (Well, that was the worst part of the night for Teddy. His highlight was when I finally let him explore the truck after the training run.) When Teddy's angels saw how much he liked the truck, the guy asked if he liked all big trucks, including fire trucks. He said that when his work does their open house this fall, we could see about getting Teddy to come through if it worked for all our schedules.

Me blocking Teddy from the truck. He was determined.

This is exactly what MTT is about. It's not just racing and competing and giving our captains the opportunity to fly. It's about building relationships with others and helping those with disabilities become more fully included in their communities.

But if you want a shot with Teddy, I guess you have to get in line. He's a pretty popular dude.

Except when I need someone to watch him while I'm working or out of town. Then my mom somehow gets that first-in-line spot. ;-) Thanks, Mom!