Once he got up and around, Ben was ready to go start our day. As you can see above, he managed to collect quite a few pins in his first day at the games. They include Arizona, Philadelphia, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Mo-Kan (Missouri/Kansas), Maryland, Mississippi, Pittsburgh, and our team, Upstate New York. We ate breakfast in the hotel that morning, and were seated near another donor family. We exchanged some conversation, each talking about our respective sons who were donors. They were from Illinois and their son was in his early twenties when he became a donor several years ago. The mother, father, and sister were in attendance, and the sister brought her daughter (who was adorable!). The mother asked me, "How did you manage to get through that last performance last night?" When I told her I was the woman who performed, she came right over and hugged me. We had a wonderful conversation. Shortly after they left, the waitress came over and told us that the other family had paid for our breakfast (which was by no means inexpensive!). Andy and I were speechless. It was one of many times that I was overcome by emotion during the Games, and extremely touched.
After breakfast, we went over to the building where the games store was located, as well as the press room. We wanted to see what kind of souvenirs were available, as well as stop by the press room to hop on a computer and take a look at the article that was on the Star-Gazette's website. Along the way we talked to many people, many of them transplant recipient athletes and living donor athletes. I was often recognized and many people thanked both Andy and me for sharing our story. Perhaps the most memorable, of the entire Games, for Andy and I, took place while we were outside the Games store. A man from team Hawaii approached and asked Ben if he'd like a team Hawaii pin. I noticed he was a living donor, so I asked him about his donation. He told us he worked at a restaurant, and one of his regular customers needed either a kidney or liver (I can't remember which), so he donated either his kidney or part of his liver. Then Andy told him that I was the woman who sang the previous night. I will never forget the way this man reacted. His eyes immediately rimmed with tears. He was overcome. He gave me a hug and then took several steps back, hand over his mouth. He was so grateful to us for our decision, and so moved by the story, by our meeting with Beckham, that he was speechless. It was so touching to see the connection we had made with this man, from so far away, who we had never met. That is how things were over and over again, with countless people we encountered. The experience was... Well, there aren't really words for it, honestly.
Sunday was a big day for Jake's heart recipient. Beckham celebrated his 3rd birthday at the Games! In the afternoon, after Alex caught a bit of a nap, the Scadlocks joined us at our hotel. Beckham had conked out in the car, so he napped on the bed for awhile. Then we headed down to the pool. Gwen, Ben, Alex, Andy, Nate and I swam for awhile (Beckham couldn't be convinced to go in!). It was a lot of fun to be able to relax and just hang out, without a chaotic scene all around us. We also met another donor family - John Schleuter and his grandson, Joey. Ben and Joey made a great bond, and they had a lot of fun in the pool together, and enjoyed playing and talking every time we ran into each other after (which happened several times).
Back up in the hotel room, Beck was back to his playful self! 
We gave Beckham his birthday gift (and gave a gift to Gwen as well). Gwen got a couple of sock minions made by my friend Amanda, and a couple of Disney princess books. We got Beckham two Hot Wheels (Ben's contribution), a small soccer ball (Alex's contribution), an "I (heart) NY" tee shirt (Kim has always said Beck's heart is from New York!), and a board book version of "On the Day You Were Born," a favorite of ours. Meanwhile, Gwen and Ben had a blast playing together, jumping from bed to bed over the "alligators" (pillows).
Beck and Alex enjoyed checking out the mirror together.
Love those eyes!!
Beckham raided the closet and found my shoes... He loved entertaining himself!
Seeing how amused we all were by Beckham's antics, Ben was not to be outdone... He's wearing my flip flops, and ... socks???
I LOVE this photo! Taken before we headed to dinner, Ben and Gwen were running all over the hotel lobby. Andy told them, "Here's a game!" and said whoever stayed in their own circle the longest would win. It worked... for a few minutes, anyway!!We went to dinner at an Italian place down the street (Beck had requested pizza for dinner). The kids were pretty good, and we had a great time getting to know each other better. Ben and Gwen enjoyed sitting next to each other... We could be in trouble here!
After dinner we went to the quilt pinning. As I mentioned before on this blog, we made a quilt square for the National Donor Quilt in Jake's honor. We got to take a moment to tell Jake's story (which Andy did), and then I explained the significance behind the square we designed. Finally, we placed the square on an unfinished section of the quilt and pinned it. The square will ultimately be added to a completed section and will travel throughout the United States. In 2012 we'll be able to see it at the next Transplant Games (location TBD).
I love the above photo... Beckham clearly doesn't want to pose for yet another photo with these crazy people he doesn't really know! He was more interested in running around and playing. Can you blame him!?!?
While we were in the quilt pinning, Central NY team member Laura took the boys out in the hallway and let them play. Ben showed her his favorite quilt squares (the ones with tractors, cars, etc. on them!). Then he and Alex wrestled! After that we all went back and had another restful night, gearing up for Day Three, which was definitely one of the more exciting and nerve-wracking days at the Games! Post to follow (eventually).
