Maddie, I proudly walked for you this weekend and it’s something I’ll never forget.

Heading to March for Babies

On Saturday, my friend Heather and I (along with our girls, Maya and Claire) participated in the St. Louis area March for Babies, we proudly walked in honor of Maddie. We donned our “In Memory of Maddie” t-shirts, dressed the girls in purple and joined the other St. Louis Team Maddie members, Mary Pat and Adene.

The huge crowds

The day was beautiful and the crowds were huge. It was such an honor to participate in this event. To be a part of something so great and so important was awe-inspiring. There were people there, like us, walking in memory of a baby taken far too soon. But there were so many others there who were walking because the work of March of Dimes had helped their premature baby survive, thrive and grow up. Groups of people from opposite ends of the spectrum coming together, walking together, to help make sure that one day all babies survive and no parent has to suffer that unspeakable loss. To those people walking side by side was very profound and brought tears to my eyes a couple of times.

Heather proudly walking for Maddie

As we were walking it was fun to look ahead and behind to see all the people. The crowd seemed to stretch on forever. I thought a lot about Heather and Mike Spohr and all those walking with them in LA. I wondered what their crowds looked like. It was so neat to think that those same huge crowds were gathering in many spots around the country all walking for the same cause.

St. Louis Team Maddie at the finish line

It was a great feeling to cross the finish line. I thought about Maddie as I did and said inside “I did this for you sweet Maddie, WE did this for you.”. I’ll never forget this experience. I’ve decided to make this an annual thing. Every year I’ll walk in the March for Babies. Every year I’ll do it for Maddie and for those other people in my life who have been touched by prematurity.