Special Olympics

This is the ever so lovely "Leopard Cow" from Cow Parade (New York City,2001.) She gets to be the cow-of-the-day because she reminds me of the Special Olympics Annual Awards Banquet we went to Monday night. We were celebrating 40 years of Special Olympics in Florida.

The banquet was held at the Ramada Resort. The grounds around the hotel are very tropical, so I wanted a picture with my handsome husband Bob. I, as you can see, had decided to wear my beautiful jungle animal print dress.
This led me to remember a print I bought at a Special Olympics Auction several years ago. The young artist is Dylan Scott Pierce, and besides being very talented, he is also autistic. (I took the close up of the picture off the web. I didn't want to undo my framing and the glass reflected too much.) Here is a photo of my beautiful framed print entitled "Jasmine and Friends." I think it looks wonderful on my wall. I have provided a link on Dylan's name if you want to find out more about him. He is a very interesting young man and a fine artist. I feel lucky to have this print signed by him.

Now let us get back to the Awards Ceremony. My son Lawrence is a previous winner of the Special Olympian of the Year Award. He has earned medals in skating, downhill skiing, track and field, swimming, and gymnastics. I can safely say, "Special Olympics is his life!" In these pictures he is helping his father (my first husband) present the awards for this year. His dad and his sweet wife, Nancy, are very active in Special Olympics, especially the fund raising part. (God Bless Them) The young lady in the picture is this year's winner, Kathy.

Here are Lawrence's medals. They are beautifully displayed over his bed. He is so proud of them. He shows them off to everyone who visits. He has so many because he's been in Special Olympics since he was about ten years old, and he is 31 now.

You can probably tell I have a passion for Special Olympics. If you ever feel the urge to become involved with Special Olympics, go for it. I know I'm glad I did.

It's a Magical Day with "MOOlin' the Wizard"

"MOOlin the Wizard," Cow Parade (West Hartford, CT, 2003) is today's cow-of-the-day. As I was cooking breakfast this morning, Myra, Lawrence's boss rang the doorbell. She told me that Lawrence is doing extremely well with his work crew. She thinks it is time to move him up to supported employment. Over the next few months she is going to be to pushing him toward that goal.

As I sat eating my breakfast, looking at all the cows, I could not help but think, "The work that Myra has done with Lawrence is magical." Then I thought of all the wonderful people who have worked with him in his life. He started at the School of Hope when he was only two years old. His first teacher was Kathy. She worked miracles with him. When he was in public school at Silver Sands, so many wonderful people worked with him. When he was 21 he finished school, and I didn't know what would happen to him. Now look, we continue to be blessed with a fabulous teacher.

Lawrence loves to go to work. He has great friends. I am so happy for him. I have a heart full of hopes and dreams for him.

Being his mother is not always easy, but it's always interesting.

Today, yes today, I feel the magic of his success. Actually, I feel the power of God's many blessings in our lives.

May God continue to bless Myra and the work she does with these precious folks.

God bless you, Lawrence, as you grow ever more independent. As you always say, "I'm a grown man, Mom."

To Everything There Is A Season

This Cow Parade (Houston, 2001) lady is named “Four Seasons.” She is so beautiful I had to show you both sides of her.

Today is Sunday, so I went to church. Worship always gets me in a reflective mood. Today, after church, several members of the family went out to lunch. I had the chance to visit with my youngest son, William. He is very interesting to talk to and offers great insight on many subjects. He made me think about how life changes. He is 29 years old now. He is grown. My role in his life has changed. That is okay. It's good that we have different seasons in our lives. "There is a time to every purpose under heaven." But William is not my only son.

The darling baby riding on his rocking horse is my first son, Lawrence. He was born in May of 1977. He is 31 yers old now and he is autistic. He became very ill when he was 10 days old and ran a high fever for many days. I begged God to save my baby, and He did. As the seasons came and went it became apparent Lawrence was not developing like other babies his age. "Not reaching the milestones," is what they said. It's a long story, but a wonderful one. God must have known I'd be happy to have a little boy for the rest of my life, because he blessed me with Lawrence.

Here is is on a horseback ride in Montana. Don't worry I'm not far away. He is my buddy and I love to go places and do things with him. Seeing the world through his eyes is a special treat. So even though the seasons of my life are moving on, Lawrence always keeps me in the sunshine.

"Bovina, the Las Vegas Showcow"

Cow Parade (Las Vegas, 2002) presents "Bovina, the Las Vegas Showcow." Here I am posed with the real Bovina. She's another memory from the Atlanta Cow Parade.

Bovina reminds me of the showgirls Lawrence likes on Carnival cruises. You can tell by the smile on his face, he enjoyed having his picture taken with these gorgeous showgirls.

Happy Fourth of July!

"Americow," from Cow Parade (Denver, 2006) and "American Royal," from Cow Parade (Kansas City, 2001) are here to say "Happy Fourth of July!"

Lawrence and his pals from Horizons had a big picnic today at Marler Park. The day was hot and humid. What do you expect on July 4th in Florida? But Lynn Ray, Michael, Myra the BOSS, and Lawrence look like they are having a fine time.

Activities like going on a boat ride, hanging out with Martha, and doing crafts with the teacher add to the fun at the picnic. There is no better way to spend the day than enjoying life with your friends.
I almost forgot to mention the great food: Hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans, potato salad, and watermelon! Now I'm talking about a GREAT picnic!

Horizons Goes All Out for Bowlegs

Captain Lawrence and his faithful band of pirates hit the streets loaded with treasure beads to throw to the townspeople.

Lawrence's Birthday

Lawrence turned 31 years old on May 5th. We had a skating party on May 10th to celebrate. Lawrence was the DJ and the whole family enjoyed the music and the skating.