HuskyTHON 2012

Let me start by saying that I was completely blown away this weekend by the students of UCONN. The HuskyTHON as always is an 18 hour dance marathon to raise money for CT Children's Medical Center. We got to the UCONN campus just before 4 pm, we were bused to the Student Union where the students gave all the families a fantastic dinner of pasta and salad. The students made a beautiful PowerPoint on the history of HuskyTHON. This was our 4Th year attending, so we are old pros and knew what to expect when we walked in. This year, however was unlike any year prior. There was a path from the entrance to the stage lined with students, some holding posters with the kids names all of them cheering. You would have thought a big celebrity or band just walked through the door. It was almost overwhelming for me to see all these kids rooting for our kids like they were Rock Stars. What an amazing experience for my Becca Bean and Adam. This year there was a record breaking (I will use that term a lot in this post) amount of dancers over 1600! I was told yesterday that they actually had to turn down volunteers, because they had more then they needed. PI BETA PHI and the Rainbow Center danced for Becca. There were 75 teams that danced, last year there we 50.

The Opening Ceremonies were so cute. Every child was given an inspirational word to say, Becca's was FUTURE. During the opening speeches it was explained that every dancer had to wear a hospital bracelet for the whole dance marathon. For the rest of the night I hardly saw Becca. I'm sure she gave the girls a run for their money. I saw her long enough to get her to pose with Adam for a caricature. Gary and I stayed with Adam. Adam and the rest of the kids were huge fans of the bouncy houses. Both Becca and Adam took advantage of the fast pass that Becca was given. The fast pass let the kids "cut" in line while waiting for the different bouncy houses. We left around 9:30 Saturday night.

We came back bright and early Sunday morning. Becca brought one of her best friends, Rosie back with her. The first thing all 3 kids wanted to do was the new bouncy house that was up. I think Adam could have been in there all morning. Next it was fun with hula hoops. Do you know how fun those can be? Becca and Adam sure do. Before I knew it, it was time to tell Becca's story. You all know it, most of the students know it. What I can tell you for sure is there is not one student at the HuskyTHON that doesn't know Becca's name. I told the students that as soon as Christmas is over both Becca and Adam ask when the HuskyTHON is. I told them that they rank up there with Santa. They loved it and to my kids it's true! Becca was completely spoiled. Her dancers bought her art supplies, enough to last her a good long time. They made her a Mikey mouse blanket that she has slept since she got it. They made her posters. They treated her like a princess. They played and danced with Adam. Adam came out of his shell this year. He danced on stage with the kids. He played with the students. A staff member of CT Children's, who has known Adam almost all of his life, asked who Adam was. LOL Usually during these events Adam is no more then an arms length from me and would be very shy. Not this year!

About 11:30 am they asked all the students to make a circle around the perimeter of the field house. The families where in the middle. They kids were handed scissors (Do you see where this is going? As soon as I put two and two together I started crying) They asked the kids to cut the hospital bracelets off of the students. As I watched Becca cut one bracelet off after another, I couldn't help but think of how excited I was to do the same thing when she got home. How it felt to take off her leads, to cut her strings so to speak. Many students were crying, all the parents where crying. It was amazing to witness. This was one of my all time favorite moments of all HuskyTHON's that we have ever been to. It is only surpassed by the first one that we went to where Becca was dancing by herself on stage while all the student chanted her name and cheered her on.

At 12 noon the final number was revealed. We got to see what all the students worked so hard for. This was a record breaking year for HuskyTHON. The students raised $304,375.24 for Connecticut Children's Medical Center! $304,375.24!!!!!!! Last year they raised just over $188k. The HuskyTHON is now the 2nd largest fundraiser for CT Children's. To the students of UCONN, thank you! Thanks to you sick, kids can get the care that they need. I am incredibly proud, humbled, impressed and honored to know these students. Your hard work does not go unnoticed. Thank you for letting us be apart of the HuskyTHON year after year. As all of you say, ANYTHING FOR THE KIDS!

As we walked out of the field house Adam looked up at me and asked if we could come back and do this again next weekend. I laughed and told him HuskyTHON 2013 is only 364 days away! The Redmans can't wait!

Miracle Walk at UCONN 2010

The Miracle Walk at UCONN was on December 4, 2010. Yes I know I'm a little late :) The Miracle Walk was another amazing event put on by the UCONN students. There were many beautiful outfits showcased in the fashion show. Each student that modeled an outfit had to raise $100 for Children's Miracle Network in order to participate. Once again I was blow away by how generous the students are to our kids. The treated Becca like a princess. Becca and I told Becca's story along with the 2010 champion, Josh. I am incredibly proud of the students for their hard work and the amount of money raised for CT Children's Medical Center. We had a blast. Thanks UCONN!

Who' Becca?

The UCONN students have been very busy and working very hard on getting the most dancers that they have ever had for the HuskyTHON. Becca and I were there a few weeks ago to help spread the word on how important dancing for the kids is. On day one the had flyers all over the campus asking Who is Becca? The flyer also had a time and a place where the students could find out who Becca was. I was told it was all over facebook statuses and twitter. It's amazing what social networking can do. On Day two Becca and I were in the student union. I told Becca's story which also aired later that night on the college TV station. There was a good turnout of students that wanted to find out who Becca was. On day three students wore Who's Becca? Tee shirts, on the back it said ask me, I know. They passed out flyers with Becca's story. Every time we go to an event at UNCONN I am always so impressed. These kids have amazing ideas on how to raise money for CT Children's Medical Center (CCMC) and they are always trying to surpass the money raised the year before. We love going to UCONN! Thank You UCONN for helping the kids of CT. As they say at CCMC, Anything For The Kids!

Sunflower Maze at Lyman's Orchard 2010

We were invited to participate in CT Children's Medical Center (CCMC) Day at Lyman's Orchard this past weekend. It has been a tradition since Becca was 2 to go apple picking and pumpkin picking there every October, so we were very excited to be a part of an event there. We were one of two hospital families that went. For the past several years Lyman's has sunflower maze during the summer. $1 from every ticket sale is donated to CCMC. Our names were placed in a bag and Maddie (from the other hospital family) was chosen to lead us and be the 20,000th person to walk through the maze. We had a great time! I love seeing local family businesses get involved and help out CCMC. Adam loved all the snacks and goodies they had out for us to much on. Their apple cider doughnuts are the best! Becca and I even got to pick apples. As of yesterday the apples we picked are already gone. We may have to make a return trip to Lyman's soon! I want to Thank John Lyman and his family for inviting us to this event. We had a great time!

Miracle Ride 2010

The Miracle Ride was April 25. Unfortunately the weather was not nearly as nice as last year. It was cold and raining and down right miserable. I did not brave taking my camera out of it"s bag to even take pictures. Luckily the Miracle Ride starting point is 5 Minutes from our new house. We went to this year to support the new Champion for CT Children's, Josh. Josh is an amazing child. As soon as his story is published I will post the link in our blog. I'm so proud of all those who participated in the Miracle Ride this year! The weather was awful, but 100 riders participated and $10,000 was raised. Money raised from this event goes directly to the NICU, as you all know that's where Becca was and this cause is very near and dear to out hearts. Without the amazing Nurses and Drs at the NICU Gary and I would not have our Becca.

Thank You to all who rode, you are true supporters of CT Children's! Fingers crossed for much better weather next year! :)

Saying Goodbye To Landon

I am sad to say that Becca's friend and fellow Champion for Children's Miracle Network, passed away last night April 12, 2010 at around 6pm. Just this week his friends found out his cancer was back, and last night Landon lost his life to cancer. He is not the first child to lose his life and unfortunately he will not be the last. My heart is heavy for the pain that his parents Bethany and Bob,his siblings, and the rest of his family must be feeling. Landon was an amazing little boy. Gary and I are honored and feel privileged to have known him. I am so happy that Becca and Adam were also able to meet him and get to know him during our trip to FL and Washington last year. I will always remember him running up to Adam every chance he got .... and grabbing his nose and laughing. He'd say, I got your nose Adam. Landon would always give it back :) I will remember that he thought throwing around Becca's Nemo stuffed animal and playing money in the middle was the best game ever. I will remember him shhhhhing Pearce and turning red for fear that Pearce would tell his secret. You see little Landon who was 6 at the time had a crush on my Becca.

When I think of Landon now, I picture him pain free and being able to run around and play and do things he was to sick to do. Sweet Landon is now an Angel. Rest in Peace sweet Landon. You will be missed by everyone who knew you.

HuskyTHON 2010

The HuskyTHON began officially at 6pm on February 22, 2010. The patient were given a dinner at 5 to celebrate the HuskyTHON. As always the students did an amazing job! There were over 600 dancers, over 100 volunteers, great coordinators, many sponsors and I believe 30 patient families (I could be wrong... very hard to keep track of all the numbers). The students are not allowed to sit for 18 hours, 6pm -12pm. The dancing started at 6 and the music only stopped for a family or an announcement.

When we walked in there was a line of students clapping for our little Becca. They do such an amazing job making the kids feel so special. Becca and Adam were given badges with their names. I have to fight with Adam every nap and bed time to take it off! He loves the badge and did a much better job wearing it then Becca did. The coordinators created a spirit dance that was done every hour. It was a medley of great songs that Becca and Adam loved. They had all kinds of bouncy houses, basketball, board game tables, and many other activities for the kids and the students to do. Jonathon the Husky made an appearance. Becca and Adam loved him! I would have to remind them that other kids wanted to play with him. He's a great dog! Becca hung out with her buddy President Hogan and for the second time made it into his blog.

Just to give you an idea about how much the HusyTHON has grown, last year Becca's sponsors, Pi Phi had 30 dancers. This year Pi Phi had 50 dancers. The girls did a wonderful job wrangling Becca. They followed her and helped her do any activity she wanted. I have to give those girls credit, you need a lot of energy to keep up with Becca1 They did a fantastic job! THANK YOU Pi Phi!

We stayed till 11pm on Saturday. The kids were exhausted. Becca fell asleep before we were even out of the parking garage, Adam was a different story. I think he was over stimulated. Both Adam and Becca loved playing basketball and many times Becca would disappear. I would find her dancing on stage! She was in Heaven!

Becca and I came back early Sunday Morning. As soon as Becca woke up , I got her dressed and put her in the car. We made a quick stop to get coffee and got back on the road to get back to UCONN. We got there around 9am. I have to say that there was a big difference in the energy level from when we left to when we got back. You could tell they were getting tired, but the hung in there. I noticed that as soon as they started seeing more kids come back the energy level picked up!

Becca found her way back to the stage on Sunday Morning and it was quite a sight to see. I had tears in my eyes. She was dancing on stage by herself and the students gathered around the stage, chanting her name and cheering her on! I hope this is a memory she will never forget! I know I won't! I told Becca's story Sunday morning. I have to say that I was very excited to learn the final number that the students raised for CT Children's. DRUM ROLL PLEASE.........................

The grand total was $150,228.00! They beat last years number by just over $42,000! I am very proud of everyone! Big shout outs to Andrew, Julie, Brianna and many others for there hard work to put together the HuskyTHON! They did an incredible job. On behalf of Becca and the other patients. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I am very honored and proud to have been a small part of this event. We can not wait until next year!