Amputee Walk

Today my brother-in-law, Tyler, hosted the first annual Amputee Walk at Tempe Town Lake. He is full of ideas on how to raise awareness for amputees and how to bring amputees together for a sort of support group. He is an amputee himself and has really turned his situation into a positive one. He works for an prosthetic company and I feel really brings a lot to the table since he can so closely relate with his clients. His is such a motivated person that is always trying to think of the next big idea! So he put together this Amputee Walk and I think it turned out awesome! He had a great turn out, great raffle prizes, and awesome speakers. Nick and I had a lot of fun walking with his wife Kristina and their two girls. Kristina is quite the wife and mother! I could learn a thing or two from her! The Healing Field is set up at Tempe Town Lake right now and it is truly amazing. They have a flag for every victim that died on 9/11/01. Each flag has a picture on it of the victim, their name, age, and whether they were on a flight that crashed or the business they worked for in the WTCs. There were stuffed animals on the poles of the flags that honored children who had died. These children were on the flights that crashed in PA and into the WTCs. They had all the flags for the police and firefighters that were killed along the perimeter and all the civilians on the inside. It was put together this way so it would look as if the police and firefighters were surrounding the civilians and protecting them. It was so moving. It made it so real to see the pictures of the victims and see how many flags were waving in the wind honoring the dead. I felt like it really brought it all full circle to have the walk there today. Some service men and women come home from the war that was set out to avenge the enemy that did that horrific act on 9/11/01 as amputees, and people like Tyler are there to support and help them make the most of their life. I love that he helps people see that life does not have to end with an amputation. You are such a good example to us Tyler and Kristi! Thanks for letting us be a part of the walk! We are looking forward to next year!

Nick pulled the wagon

the whole 5K!

Allie and Emma

had fun riding

together for

part of the way!

Sometimes Kristi

pushed the stroller

when it looked like

this...

and sometimes it

looked like this!

The girls couldn't

decide if they'd

rather ride or walk...

so they did a little

of both.

This was our view

for the last leg of

the walk. They had

2,996 flags total.

Tyler stood in front

of this flag that listed

all the victims who died

on 9/11. It is the only

thing to be signed by

all the senators in all

50 states. A man

explained the flag in detail

and it was very interesting.

This is the logo on the

back of the shirts that

everyone got.