After months of planning and fundraising, our big weekend was here! Mom and Dad flew from Yuma to Baltimore, and we then drove to New York City. We were so excited and happy to share this experience with mom and dad. It was fun for Sven, Nikolas and me last year, but it was even better this year with our expanded team: "Mom's Motivators"! My parents and I hadn't been in the city together since I graduated from Kings Point in 1996. Now, here we all were together (with the addition of Sven and Nikolas) 14 years later. What a weekend it was! Each night when we lay in bed after a busy day, our legs and feet throbbed from the miles we'd walked...and that includes Friday the day before the Walk! It was an exhaustion I'd gladly endure any day. What a city, what a weekend, and what an experience!
Times Square at night
Friday we were up bright and early headed for the Plaza at Rockefeller Center....NBC's Today Show. It was colder than we expected and we huddled together wearing our coats, hoods, scarves and hats (ok, the latter 3 were just for me and Nikolas...hee hee) and our newly acquired Parkinson's Unity Walk t-shirts. The Event Director, Helaine Isaacs, did an outstanding job of getting a lot of participants there hoping for some air-time and a plug for the Walk. Thanks to Jim Cantore (of the Weather Channel and a loyal Unity Walk supporter), Al Roker interviewed our group (including Jim's daughter who was there with us).
It was so nice to meet Helaine (on the left). She and I had corresponded quite a bit since January. This was her first year as the Event Director and she did a fantastic job. Everyone who worked the Walk (a few pictured here) were so nice. It was such a pleasure dealing with them.
Here we are: Mom's Motivators!! How about those signs?!
It was fun to see the behind-the-scenes action (no pun intended...hee hee) of the show.
I admire Ann Curry (doesn't she just seem like the nicest person??) and really wanted to meet her. I came close...really close....she was shaking the hand of the lady next to me! Oh well....maybe next time?!
Thanks to my sign-holding duty, I did get to shake Matt's hand.....
and Al's.... !
Who knew I'd get to meet Lou Diamond Phillips, Matt Lauer, and Al Roker in the same lifetime! =)
After our busy morning at the Today Show and some refueling at Burger Heaven (Yes, they serve breakfast...does anyone watch Celebrity Apprentice? If so, you know where I'm talking about.) we were off for our day's excursions. I had reserved tickets for the Liberty and Ellis Island ferry. (And oh yes, I was able to stop at my favorite photography store in Manhattan to see it in person......not exciting for you, I know....but for me.....) We walked, took the subway, and walked (and walked and walked) to and through Battery Park to get to the ferry. We were so grateful for our reserved tickets so we didn't have to stand in the insane line to purchase them. (Unfortunately, we weren't spared from the insane security line.)
Liberty Island with Manhattan in the background.
And everyone gets to pose with Lady Liberty....
Ellis Island
.the subway...... =)
Saturday morning, the day of the Walk! We were all quite excited. Even Nikolas couldn't wait to get his t-shirt on. Here we are having breakfast at the most amazing 'cafe' next door to our hotel....you could get EVERYTHING there...and I do mean everything. And, it was 24 hours!!! Isn't Manhattan great?!
On our way to the subway.....
Michael J. Fox wasn't at the Walk (2 years of that disappointment...I guess I wasn't meant to meet Michael....just Lou, Matt and Al) but his billboard truck was there.
A stroll through Central Park with 10,000 of our closest friends and fellow PD supporters.
Nikolas did a fantastic job of the Walk this year. No scooter, no complaining...what a good boy he was.
Time to kick our feet up, have a snack and enjoy Central Park on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
Poor, poor Nikolas. By the time we got to the restaurant for dinner, he was DONE...and this is before dinner was served!
Last year, Sven, Nikolas and I took a bike taxi in hopes of getting to FAO Schwarz (an enormous toy store if you're not familiar with it) before they closed (and no we didn't make it...they had locked the door 2 minutes before we got there). Anyway, that ride was so thrilling and fun we thought we'd give mom and dad the opportunity to experience it for themselves. Well, it was fun and we were taken for a ride (yes, many puns intended) but it didn't rate on the thrill factor like last year's ride. I guess that's probably for the best....mom and dad might have been upset with us otherwise. =)
As we were driving out of Manhattan on Sunday morning, this is the sign we saw on the back of a bus stop. How perfect is that? What a way to finish off our weekend.....with us much hope and optimism as we'd started out with.
T-I-R-E-D! We were all so exhausted. We couldn't have played one more day even if we'd been given the chance (ok, maybe we could have scrounged up the energy somehow...). What a fantastic weekend. It was all we could have hoped for and more.
Mom and Dad-- thanks for making the trip out east to be part of our team. It meant everything having you guys there with us.
Thad-- we missed having you with us. No worries, no guilt, we understand.....but know that we missed you!
To everyone who donated-- THANK YOU for making this all possible. Thank you for your support, both financially and emotionally. To date, our little team raised $2866 as part of the bigger pool of $1.2 million that has been raised for Parkinson's research (no overhead, no event costs...it ALL goes to research). Parkinson's research may not be 'your cause' but I can't thank you all enough for your generous donations that give me hope and pride for mine. THANK YOU! (And for those of you who didn't get a chance to donate but would like to, donations are being accepted through June 1.)
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