Happy Heart Day!

Hooray!!! Today is the last day for lists of 7!! Please check out my friend Christy's post on the LearnAboutCHD blog - it was awesome of her to take the time to write it!

I hope everyone had a super Heart Day. I've never been one for the holiday myself, but it took on new meaning this year as I set out on the marathon CHD awareness campaign. So, for my final personal list of 7, I'd like to share what I've learned this past week as I've embarked on this adventure:

1. I'm surrounded by love. Up to my ears in it. And it feels GREAT! I have received so many phone calls, emails, shout outs and woop-woops from friends and fellow CHD parents. Everyone should do this once a year just for the warm fuzzies you get from realizing that other people care!
2. I'm lucky to have a kid with CHD. Don't get me wrong. I hate that Sadie had it, and would not wish it on anyone. But because she did, my eyes have been opened to a need I had no clue existed.
   
3. Any schmo can make a difference. I managed 400 unique hits yesterday on the LearnAboutCHD blog - something I started on a whim because I couldn't really find anything that brought the information together in one place without begging for money. Who'd have thunk it would take off like that. If I can do this little bit, then imagine what a devoted organization or company could do.
   
4. I have awesome family and friends. You know who you are. Jumped right in and started campaigning beside me, whether posting something on your MySpace page or blogging along side, thank you!!
5. Lists of 7 are NOT the way to go next year. Too much work. But I did like the shiny logo. Sparkly.
6. Sharing Sadie's story is OK to do. Honestly, I was a bit ashamed, embarrassed, and emotional about the whole Sadie heart experience. I shouldn't have been. I couldn't do a thing to prevent it. I just didn't want people to see us as "different." I didn't want them to treat her differently. So I simply didn't talk about it much, except with my closest friends and family.But I feel so much better now that I know there are hundreds of other moms out there, just like me, who feel the same way at some point and time.
   
7. Sadie is a rock star. At first I was worried about drawing attention to her. But she loves to check out her newspaper mug we stuck up on the fridge last week, and has proven she's a total diva in progress.