Thoughts

Good Day to the Founders of Grin Kids,

Often when I've encountered some kind major event, either good, bad or somewhere in between, I usually let some time pass before I try and express my thoughts and emotions with words.  With that said...

Yesterday I called my sister for her birthday and, being that we rarely speak with each other as we live a thousand miles apart and are both so tied up with our own families, she wanted me to send her a long email describing all the good things that have happened to our family recently so that she could share it with her prayer group.  Apparently my sister's prayer group had been praying for our family's health and well-being as we endured some of our heavier burdens and she (my sister that is) wanted to have something to share with her group that kind of said, "Hey look! Our prayers have been answered!" My impression is that many prayer groups pray and pray and pray, but never learn of the fate of what it is that they prayed for.  So I typed up a pretty lengthy email detailing all of the good things that have happened, of some of our many recent blessings.  Of course, one of the major highlights that I included was our Grin Kids trip.  As I began describing the people who went on the trip, what Disneyworld's like, what it meant to our family, and how neat it was to be a part of Grin Kids I found myself browsing through the photos and videos of the 2008 trip on the Grin Kid web page.  For obvious reasons looking at those pictures and seeing those videos made me feel choked with emotion...and now I feel compelled to write something, something that all of you can hopefully appreciate. 

There are moments in a person's life in which they encounter an experience that elicits an emotion so intense that a memory is branded forever into their mind.  A kind of memory that somehow works its way into everyday, a memory that gets accompanied by one of those statements that goes, "A day doesn't go by that I don't think about..."  These memories are sometimes good memories that might bring out a slight chuckle or put a Grin on your face.  It might be a memory of a wedding or it might be a memory of a person and the way they would laugh or tell a story.  And sometimes these memories aren't so good, possibly making you ill to your stomach instead of making you chuckle.  A memory you may wish could be shattered and broken into pieces, pieces that are swept away so that they no longer litter your mind.  A memory that makes you say, "I wish I could undo that..."  As our mind fills with memories, both the good ones and the bad ones, hopefully we'll all be fortunate enough to have many good ones and few bad ones.  That way we'll find ourselves Grining more often than feeling ill. 

While I was writing the email to my sister and her prayer group I gave a recollection of all the difficulties we experienced, all the hospitalizations, all the times of 'not-knowing,' of feeling lost, of feeling like I really understand what the word Hope means, more so than many other people, simply because I had to rely on it to get through so many a day.  Tied into these difficult times are the memories that aren't as easily faced, though I don't fear them anymore like I once did.  I can face them today and face them in manner in which I can appreciate what it is they represent.  But given a choice I would prefer to think of something else.  But what? What else is there to think about, to recall? That's when I began writing about all the good things that have happened to us, about the things I remember when I think about Grin Kids and Disneyworld.  I'll always remember...

Flying on a chartered jet that the fire department showered as it taxi'd down the runway...

Watching Jack-Jack's father hold Jack-Jack in the swimming pool, and as he did so bent over and affectionately kissed his forehead...

That first dinner at Epcot, eating with Breanna and Chandler's parents and listening to them talk about their lives, about their disappointments and about their joys...

TJ showing up at our door just after we got into our hotel room, there to attend to our family's needs and me thinking, "Wow, they are really sincere about this.  They're not here for their egos, they aren't full of themselves, they actually care..."

When my family went on a ride together, it didn't matter which ride, any of them, and seeing how happy we were together...

Eating lunch at the Magic Kingdom and while the boys sat patiently for Mom to bring the food I enacted the story of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox and Brer Bear so that they could understand what was going on in Splash Mountain.  I stopped for a moment and looking around I realized I had a rather large audience of other people's children...

Being stuck with Ian on Tom Sawyer's island in the rainstorm - he and I always have a good time together no matter what's happening around us!

I could go on and on, but will instead end it with my favorite memory - that initial moment when we showed up at the airport and seeing all the other Grin Kids, seeing Zach with his dog, seeing Sir Purr, and seeing all the excitement.  What makes this memory so special, though, is that it is not a superficial memory of events.  Rather it is a memory of a realization, a realization that people are generous, people are good, are giving and are caring.

And to those generous people who care I give this in return: Thank you...thank you for giving me good memories...thank you for everything.

Wishing All Of You Peace,

Mike Ling