For the first time in recent memory, I spent Labor Day at home with Casey and the girls instead of in a television studio co-hosting the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s annual telethon. (How was I supposed to know that the Association would frown on my on-air attempt to break the record for most number of FCC fines in a single broadcast?) The Association’s new format was a three-hour show on Sunday night filled with stars like Carrie Underwood and Khloé Kardashian Odom (as if anyone would rather see them instead of me), but their other fundraising efforts over Labor Day weekend continued to include classics like fire fighters suffering through the elements in crosswalks across the land to “fill the boot” for MDA. And that is where our story gets interesting ...
When Casey and Sammy were out yesterday, they were approached by a fire fighter who explained that he was collecting money in his boot to help find a cure for muscular dystrophy. Sammy perked up right away, and they made a donation (not sure why Casey didn’t just take the boot since it’s supposed to be for me any way, but whatever). When I got home from work, Sammy ran up to me, threw her arms around me and screamed the following:
“Daddy, me and mommy gave a fireman money for his shoe, and now they’re going to cure muscular dystrophy! You’re going to be cured and walk again! Isn’t that great?”
It’s hard to describe the mix of emotions I experienced as I heard her excitement and felt her little arms hug me with glee. At the tender age of 5, she wants for my happiness and was thrilled to contribute to my well-being.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to tell her. I didn’t want to say that Daddy will always be in a wheelchair because that, while likely, may not be true. More importantly, I didn’t want to tell her that because hope is a beautiful thing.
Each of us should hope. We should hope for our own happiness and for the happiness of others. We should hope that tomorrow will be better, that the good guys will always win, and that the light we see in the eyes of our children will never dim. No matter how uncertain our circumstance, situation or fate may seem, we should always hope.
And so it was that when Sammy looked into my eyes, I kissed her on the forehead, gave her a tiny squeeze and said, “I hope you’re right.”
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