Ben and his sock minion (created by my friend Amanda - check our her etsy site http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArchiboldSockMinions if you want to order one of your very own - no two are alike!) Arthur are ready to go!
Alex says "Cheese!" whilst drinking on take off.
Ben shows Arthur the view of the clouds. We landed safely in O'Hare, then easily made our connecting flight to Madison (the boys enjoyed watching the planes taking off while we waited). We arrived in Madison around 11:15, took a shuttle to the hotel with a very helpful and friendly driver, and were pleased to be granted early check in at the Hilton Monona Terrace. Our room overlooked the Monona Terrace, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (but only built 13 years ago!). It was a great room and a remarkable view!
The Monona Terrace was the locale for many of the non-athletic events taking place during the Games, many of them geared for donor families, such as the quilt pinning for the National Donor Quilt and the Donor Recognition Ceremony (coverage in blog entries yet to come!). After freshening up at the hotel, we ran over to the Terrace to get registered and pick up our credentials (lanyards with passes for the shuttles and events), then caught a shuttle to the Coliseum where I was scheduled to rehearse my song for the opening ceremonies. We were all very excited to get our NKF Transplant Games experience underway (although Alex is clearly feeling a little tired)!!
My rehearsal was... an experience. First of all, I sang with a great five piece band from Madison called The Gomers. I get the impression they're usually more of a rock group, but they were fantastic at playing my song, which was a selection from the Broadway musical "Wicked" called "For Good." So I was singing in a venue much larger than I'm accustomed to, with a band I've never performed with, and the sound system was INSANE. It was so loud, and I had a hard time hearing myself. I did adjust, however. My bigger challenge was keeping it together while I sang the song. I have such a strong, personal connection to the piece, and this has only been strengthened since learning that Kim sang the same song to Beckham to soothe him after his transplant. I was unable to finish the song on the first run through; I broke down in tears during the last verse. The second run was better, but I was very concerned about whether or not I could perform the song without completely losing control.I didn't really have time to think about it, though. After speaking with a woman whose son was also performing at the opening ceremony (she is a liver recipient from Nebraska who competed in the games), Andy, the boys and I headed over to the expo center, where the NKF press room was set up and the Scadlocks were waiting to meet us.
How can I put this first meeting into words? I can't. There is no possible way to describe how it felt to finally see, talk to, hug and kiss this little boy we have absolutely fallen in love with, who carries the heart we have loved so well. As we walked toward the glass-walled room, we could see the Scadlocks - Nate, Kim, Gwen, and, of course, Beckham - and Andy and I were already getting choked up. I walked into the room, said, "Hi, Beckham" (barely - speaking was not very easy), knelt down, and received the most amazing hug EVER.
The above photos were taken by a photographer for the NKF. I love the posed photo of all of us. You can clearly see the personalities of the kids. Gwen is being her adorable, bubbly self; Beckham looks slightly overwhelmed (the experience was huge for a little guy who rarely is able to go anywhere other than the hospital due to his immuno-suppression, which means the only people he sees other than family are doctors and nurses who want to poke, prod and otherwise bother him!); Alex has his smug smile and a bag of Cheez-its (no way I was trying to take that away - he'd never have held still for a photo); and Ben is doing - what else? - the super excited face!! The following photos were snapped by Karen Guarino of the Upstate New York Team (which our family was a part of), who came by and was kind enough to take a bunch of photos with our camera. The boys had a great time playing with Gwen and Beck!
We took some time to talk and then headed down to the tail gating party, where all the teams sit together and then head over to the opening ceremonies. On the way down, Gwen hitched a ride with Ben. I LOVE the look on his face in this photo!!!
The tail gate is a great opportunity for people to mingle and meet each other. It's also a perfect time for people to trade team pins. Each team designs a pin to represent themselves, and then each team member is given a number of these to take and trade with other participants. It creates a great memento from the games. Unfortunately, Andy and I forgot to grab ours before the tail gate, so we didn't get a jump start on that like many others did. We did (with Ben's help) collect quite of a few of the pins over the course of the games. It was nice to chat with a few people and get something to eat (the first time all day I had an appetite!), and Alex snoozed in the stroller (he was exhausted).
A view of half of the crowd at the tail gating party. It was a sea of people!
At the beginning of the opening ceremony. Note Alex is now WIDE AWAKE and refreshed! They handed out the pennants for people to cheer on the teams as they entered the coliseum, one team at a time.
Does that guy on the left side of the photo look familiar? It's Larry Hagman, formerly J.R. on Dallas and Maj. Nelson on I Dream of Jeannie! He's been coming to the Games since the 1996, after receiving a life-saving liver transplant.
About halfway through the ceremony, it was Ben's turn to pass out. He missed my performance, and asked me afterward why I had only rehearsed the song and not actually sang it for a crowd!
The performance went better than I ever dreamed. It was remarkable. I felt completely calm as I walked out on the stage. It was such a surreal feeling. I never thought I would feel so at peace. I was able to sing without completely being overtaken by emotion, and when I finished the entire coliseum gave me a standing ovation, and I walked off the stage into the waiting arms of Alex, the Scadlocks, and Andy (while Ben snoozed on...). The above photos were provided by photographer Robert McGaffin.Needless to say, we all got a REALLY good night's sleep. If you'd like to see some more about our first day, check out the following video of the story aired by the NBC news in Madison. It includes video of our meeting with the Scadlocks.
2 Families United by One Heart
More updates to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment