We stepped out into the brisk, cold morning. The sun shone brightly as we saw our breathe escape us.
We thought of the many people who, by this time of the morning, had already started the half-marathon they were running in honor of Ella.
A half-marathon.
Mid-January.
Chicagoland.
Ella faces a lifetime of challenges. Each day is a challenge for her to simply do the things that most people don't even think about as they do them. Sitting, for example, can be a struggle. If she is not in just the right position she will fall...and she cannot stop herself.
Eating, drinking, playing...a challenge.
Getting from one room to another; pointing her finger to show what she wants; coughing...a challenge.
Picking up a crayon; pressing a simple button on a toy; and yes--even sleeping...a challenge.
She's not alone, however.
Many people took on their own challenge this mid-January Sunday morning. They bundled themselves up in warm protective clothing and set out to accomplish a challenge of running mile after mile after mile.
They did it for Ella.
They brought Ella to their minds as they ran; keeping her image, her spirit, her challenges burning in the depths of themselves fueling the fire and passion to continue in their challenge to run.
They did it for Ella.
They took themselves from their warm homes and their comfortable beds to seek the exhilaration they feel when they run yet they did it not for themselves.
They did it for Ella.
They joined together as a community; young, old and everyone in between to give what they could to help a young, fragile, girl who will face her own challenges everyday for the rest of her life.
They did it for Ella.
Individuals and business, whole classrooms and groups of friends, pulled themselves away from their own challenges in life to proclaim their support; acting upon the good intentions within themselves to make a difference.
They did it for Ella.
Whenever we see a runner, focused on their endeavor, breathing rhythmically to their own internal beat, we will gaze upon them with new eyes. We will tell Ella how a group of people, many of whom never met her, dedicated themselves to her on a Sunday morning in mid-January.
