FTK: For the kids
February 8, 2008
By: Claire Pickett <cpickett@hilite.org>
Maybe it’s something about spending your 12th birthday in the hospital that just sticks with you. Even though it was more than six years ago, I still remember it perfectly; the Band-Aid I wore on my face to try and cover up the red blotches, the little lies I told my classmates to try and seem as normal as them and the panic attacks my mom would have when she thought I couldn’t see. I’ll never forget the deep dread I would always feel when I would go back to the same doctor again and again.
Now that I’m living a healthy life again, it all seems like a dream sometimes, like it happened to someone else. And to be completely honest, I had almost forgotten about it until my sophomore year when I attended Carmel’s first Dance Marathon. True, I would go back to Riley Children’s Hospital for annual check-ups, but other than that, I did my best to make up for the time I had lost being a normal kid. I do remember being doubtful of the Dance Marathon when I first did it. I thought it would be similar to an awkward school dance, not a line dance we all did together as one. However, I walked out of there affected by one of the most amazing experiences that this school has to offer. The people dancing were all there not only for Riley, but also for Casey Crouse, whose sister had died that year in a tragic accident.
I watched as one by one, people stepped forward to tell their story of how Riley had impacted their lives. I had always been sort of embarrassed of being sick, and not being able to do all the things that my friends could do, so I was shocked of how easy it was for those people to open up like that. One of the things I have always struggled with, and still continue to, is opening up about a weakness. I couldn’t help but admire them.
Now it’s Carmel’s third Dance Marathon, and it’s my last one at this school. If anything has touched me at this school, it is this event. The people working on it are so passionate about doing all they can for the cause that it is impossible not to be inspired. Dance Marathon taught me to stop forgetting, and to remember all those days I wanted nothing more than to be just an every day kid. But it’s selfish to forget, because there are children out there struggling with things that I, and many of my classmates, could never imagine. I have come to realize how much we take for granted the ability of being able to dance for six hours, because six years ago, I never could have done that. We take for granted staying up until all hours laughing with friends, we take for granted waking up and going to school every day and we even take for granted sleeping in our own beds.
Dance Marathon is not just about raising as much money as possible; it’s about doing something for others that shows that you care. It’s about giving up a Saturday to help save a life, and it’s about dancing for all the children out there who would really do anything they could to be there. By attending dance marathon, you’re out there dancing for so much more than the $75 that you raised. And from experience, no amount of money can ever give you the rewarding feeling that you might just be making a difference in someone’s life. In the end, it isn’t about beating last year’s total amount of money raised. It’s about just being there and dancing your heart out for the kids that thank you with their lives. Claire Pickett works for the ads staff. Contact her at cpickett@hilite.org.
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