Family

Two years ago, when I was pregnant with Dillon, we went to the Jimi Flowers Classic swim meet. I found out about the swim meet, initially, from a news story about Breanna Sprenger, which I found from google-ing, about a zillion times, "limb loss" or "no limbs." We went to the swim meet, held at the Olympic Training Center, and watched Breanna swim, as well as Kayla Wheeler. These two girls are "lefties" as well - they were also both born without their legs or their right arms. As a pregnant mamma with a soon-to-be-boy with limb loss, it was a great blessing and comfort for me to see these girls swimming! Today, two years later, we went back to the swim meet (http://gazette.com/paralympic-swimmers-of-varying-ages-unite-at-jimi-flowers-classic-in-colorado-springs/article/1521820) and were able to take all four of our kiddos - including Dillon - to see Kayla and Breanna swim. We also got to see Gabe, a boy with the same limb loss as the other three. What a great event, and a fun time watching them compete! I wasn't real sure how to meet them as I didn't want to get in the way of their swim focus in the paralympic meet. I had been chatting with Breanna's mom and left a message for her dad, but it was still difficult to figure out how to connect. I didn't have to wait long though, before Gabe's mom came walking over to introduce herself and welcome us to the "one arm family." She then introduced us to Breanna, her dad, and Kayla and her mom. What a great "family" that we now get to be a part of! It is an absolute joy to now call these families friends, and I so look forward to learning from them on our journey. Oh, and some of these kiddos will be on the next Paralympic swim team, so we get to root for them too!