By now
everyone who knows me is probably aware of how much I love, respect, and admire my
Boyfriend. This past weekend brought my admiration for him to a whole new
level.
Let me start by saying this: if you haven't heard about the Life Rolls On Foundation before, look it up NOW! It is just an INCREDIBLE organization!
Here's the story:
Last year,
shortly after we had moved down to Virginia Beach, we heard that our new
friends Dana and Mike would be in town and that Mike would be participating in
a surfing event. I asked Ian if he wanted to partake in the event, but he
quickly shot down the idea. Since we still hadn’t met Dana and Mike in person
(we met through their awesome blog- if you haven’t done so yet, check it out!)
and we had been wanting to go down to the beach anyway, he agreed that it would
be fun to go see what it was all about.
I had heard
of the Life Rolls On foundation before and knew they did a surfing event, but I
didn’t know much more than that. When we got down to the beach last year, I
realized just how huge this event really was.
We met up with Dana and Mike. Dana was
volunteering so she was in the water for most of the morning. We hung out with
Mike and watched the surfers do their thing. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately
we were still unpacking and setting up our new house and Mike wasn’t scheduled
to go out until later in the afternoon, so we had to leave before we saw him
surf.
This year,
it was a completely different experience.
August 10th, 2013-
When we got
down there Saturday morning and figured out what team Ian was on, we headed
down to the tents where they read off all the thank you’s to the sponsors, and
led a beautiful prayer in both English and Hawaiian.
Ok, now we were set and ready
for the day!
Throughout
the day we sat on the beach, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and watched a whole
crowd of awesome people get out in the water and experience surfing.
We got to
hang out with our friends, and Ian’s family, and we met a few new, fun friends. We
even had the opportunity to meet the founder of Life Rolls On. What a great
guy!
I was on spray bottle duty that day, trying to cool down the boys who don't sweat. I think he and Ian both appreciated my skills with the spray bottle…. Or
maybe it was the ice cold water inside the spray bottle that they appreciated,
haha.
Y'all, it was freakin' HOT!!
We ran into our friends Robin and Ben, and watched Ben take his turn in the water! This is the group shot right after :-)
Okay, so Ian’s
original time to get out in the water was 3PM. We had let everyone know that
morning that they needed to be there by 3 to see him surf.
At around 1PM they
called his name to go because some people had second thoughts and didn’t
take their turn or some didn’t show up at all.
We were still waiting on several
friends to get there.
I almost started to panic. Almost.
Reason I
love this foundation #487- they were completely willing to work with him. There
was no rush and they were SO understanding. Ian wanted his friends there and didn’t
want to go out until they showed up. Everyone working there were totally ok with that.
We
made some quick phone calls and made sure that everyone tried to get there as
quickly as they could. They moved his time to 2:30.
The time had
finally arrived- it was Ian’s turn to go! We were still waiting on a couple friends but we couldn’t wait any longer. We were all so super excited!
Before I go any further, let me explain something real quick...
Ian
is paralyzed from the middle of his chest down and has limited use of his arms
and hands.
He can’t grip the surfboard.
He can’t
tread water.
If he fell
off that board and no one was there to help, I’m pretty sure he’d sink!
I think
it’s safe to say he may have been slightly terrified.
Would ya look at this face... he looks a little concerned
I have been
trying to talk this dude into going swimming in a pool with me for the past year and a half
and he has absolutely refused. He had a fear of the water, hadn’t been out in
the ocean since before his accident, and here he was about to go out and take
on these waves.
Umm... Ok, now I was getting a little nervous!!
It didn’t
take long for me to relax, though. Once I saw how hard the volunteers were working and I
witnessed how amazing these people are, I enjoyed every minute of it.
Ian was
surrounded by people who love and support him. We were scattered all along the
side of the beach where the orange flag was flying. Go orange team!
We were
photographers and videographers and between all of us, I think we documented
his every move.
There were cheers and clapping of hands and tears welling up in
eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses.
It was a beautiful moment that none of us will
ever forget.
My man was
so brave. The minute he got on the board and hit the water, all of his fears
washed away with the tide. He was happy, he was excited, and he was free.
I can’t
put in to words how incredibly proud and amazed I was of him that day.
I wish I
could bottle up all that energy that was in the air, in that moment, and carry it
around with us forever.
I feel so privileged to have had the chance to be a
part of such a huge moment in Ian’s life and to have been able to share it
with such wonderful people.
When I look
at all the pictures and videos that were taken, I am filled with such pride and
admiration. Ian was lying on his stomach holding himself up on the board.
I mean, check this guy out!
This
is something that he’s not comfortable with and can barely do on land, in the
comfort of our own home, much less out in the ocean with waves coming right at
him.
He made it look so easy, which I know it was not. Oh, and if I’m not mistaken, he
caught Every. Single. Wave.
I’m one
proud Girlfriend, let me tell ya!!
I’m going to
remember that during his time out in the water, the love of my life was filled
with the most joy, excitement, and happiness, and was wearing the biggest grin
I have ever seen since I’ve known him.
I just love this smile!
I will never
forget all of the support and love from everyone who was on the beach that day,
as well as the people who sent their support via text or facebook.
I am SO very thankful
for the volunteers and everyone who works at Life Rolls On. Those guys are
amazing and are the ones who made this day so special for Ian. They made sure
he was safe and had an amazing time and were there cheering him on through the
entire thing!
Would y'all take a look at the expressions on their faces? And in the above photos? I think they were almost as excited as Ian!
Seriously, how awesome is that?!
I’m SUPER
thankful for Jesse Billauer for creating such an incredible foundation and for
truly making a difference in a lot of folks lives. Dude is a rockstar! For
real.
What an incredible day!
When we got home that evening, Ian thanked ME for the day he had just had.
What?? I
didn’t feel like I had done anything. I was just there.
He said that
I supported and encouraged him throughout the entire day and that he was so
grateful I was there.
I really didn’t
know what to say other than I will ALWAYS be here to support and encourage him.
That’s my job.
He's my superstar. My hero. And he was thanking me?!
Now that I’ve
had time to think about it- Ian, in response to that, I want to say thank YOU, my
love. You deserved this day!
There are a
lot of things that you have to deal with on a daily basis that some people don’t
even know about, and you do it with a positive attitude and smile on your face.
You have to
put up with me.
ALL of me. Emotions and mood swings and all.
You have
seen the best and very worst of me and you have always been there to lift me up
and pull me out of some pretty dark times and you do this effortlessly.
You support,
encourage and inspire me daily. You are my rock, my best friend, and I don’t know
what I’d do without you.
So, anytime I
have to chance to give you a day like you had last weekend, I’m there! Sign me
up. I’ll be the one front and center, in your corner, cheering you on. All day,
every day if I could.
If I can get
a glimpse of that ear to ear smile you had, it will make it all worth it to me!
You are the
most amazing person I know and you deserve all the happiness in the world! I’m
on a mission to make sure you have as many days like that as possible! Time to
find more adventures, babe!!
Who says
anything is impossible just because you’re in a wheelchair? My quadriplegic Boyfriend
just conquered his fear of the water. He just proved that anything IS possible!
