A Father-Son Story

Sometimes when I'm down, I will look up inspirational stories. I'll run into sad ones, I'll run into happy ones. Yes, they help. Last night, I found a father and son story. The closer it gets to next Wednesday (the beginning of the trial), and March 1st (Carter's first birthday), the more upsetting things get. We don't show it, but we are both a little... Ahhh!! I worry for Tyler, because he has appeared to handle it well, but emotionally, at times, it hits him like a rock. When I read stories like this one, I think of Tyler and Carter still being together. Making memories. Especially after being told that he will be handicapped, we just didn't know how much, this story really hit me. We miss him. It doesn't just hurt. It freaking sucks.  
Anyway, here's the story... & a story that was written about it in Sports Illustrated...

Team Hoyt: An inspirational, father-son story

Dick Hoyt's son Rick can't walk or talk. After Rick convinced his dad to push him in his wheelchair in a 5 mile race, he told his dad that he didn't feel handicapped when they were competing. Inspired by that, Dick has entered and completed with his son hundreds of competitive races including marathons and triathlons. Their times are impressive. Could you run 6-minute miles pushing a wheelchair for 10 miles?

THE STORY
From Rick Reilly's column in Sports Illustrated:

"Strongest Dad in the World"

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son., Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars- all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much- except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution."

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain."

"Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain."

-January 29, 2009

I haven't decided yet if I want to let Tyler read this story, because it is very emotional. Also, very inspirational. Probably one of the best I have ever read.

You can read more on http://www.teamhoyt.com/