We're Walking!

It's here, people!  The walk is here. Man, it snuck up on me again.  Maybe it's better to be a total pain in the ass to people about it just so everyone knows it's coming versus trying not to inundate people with reminders.  Well, regardless...we're basically six weeks away.  The walk is May 12th!  It's time NOW to register and donate, and send me your tshirt sizes so I have enough time to purchase them. 

Regarding the tshirts...when you register to walk or donate or whatever there's a place on the registration form that prompts you for your tshirt size...this is for the Highmark shirts...NOT the Justalilwalk shirts.  I can't even see what you enter there, so if you're walking with us in May...please please please reach out to me on facebook/twitter/ig/text/email or...if ALL ELSE fails...phone and get me sizes. 

The walk is always a blast and it raises money for a great charity that directly benefits autistic people (both children and adult) and their caregivers.  So...Register now at the link below!!

Link to just a lil walk team page!

Just a Lil Walk V

This is the fifth "walk" for the Walter family.  Last year was the first time we did it without Leslie.  And probably I was a little too scattered to give the walk all my attention, but I think I can be forgiven.  This year, I have a redesigned logo, a tshirt sponsor in place, and a little bit...just enough of emotional space that I can provide a bit more focus.

Leslie loved the walk.  I know it delighted her how people came out of the woodwork online and in person to support little Lily.  Autism was Leslie's cause.  I know that it probably seems like maybe cancer could or should have been her cause, but Leslie was never comfortable with that.  She never wanted to wear pink.  She never wanted to broadcast her breast cancer.  Supporting Lily was her cause.  This walk was and is the "event" that the Walter family used to express that support.

Last year so many people came out of that woodwork.  I think because Leslie had just passed.  I think it helped to have someplace to direct your pain.  I think it helped to feel like YOU were helping.

I suspect this year a few less people will make it out.  We've all had a year to get used to it, after all.  But I hope I'm wrong.  I hope you'll come out and support us as we walk.

Please read below and consider joining us on May 14th as we walk for Lily.  Leslie will be walking alongside all of us in spirit.

--------------------------

It's that time of year once more. I'm inviting friends and family to participate in Highmark's, "Walk for a Healthy Community" with us again this year. "Just a Lil Team" will once again be marching for Autism Connection of PA (aka ABOARD). The beauty of the walk is that 100% of the donations go to the charity.

Four years ago around September, when this blog was newer and greener, I broadcast a plea for help to the autism community at large and asked this question, "To whom should I donate my money if I want it to benefit autistic people and their families and caregivers?" That post is >>HERE<<.

Anyone who was autistic said, "Don't give money to Autism Speaks". There were a lot of reasons, and most of them were good, but "don't give money to X" doesn't really help.  If not them, then who? The consensus was, "give to someone who can help autistic people locally, or give to food banks or shelters", because the sad fact of life is that many autistic people not receiving supports or services are the people in the homeless shelters and benefiting from the food banks. I'm paraphrasing the masses (it was not a particularly well-commented blog post of mine, but linking from post to post by others who had covered the topic, that was the message I got). One local autistic adult mentioned ABOARD, (Now Autism Connection of PA). They had helped her personally. I had attended a couple workshops they had put together with my wife, and had previously donated to them. They're the folks who put together the Autism Friendly Santa Visit every year at the mall, (they did one for the Easter Bunny too, maybe you saw pictures of Lily on Facebook)

Since then we've gone to many of their sponsored events:
autism-friendly:

days at an indoor playground
Santa
Trips to see the Pirates play
Nutcracker Ballet
Lion King
Art March
Gala
Symposium (in the Spring)
Grandparent seminars
Painting with a Twist
Wigle Whiskey

And these are just the things our family has attended. They've become our personal pet Autism Charity. We're forming a team again this year, "Just a Lil Walk Team", and using Lily as our rallying point. This is a cause that's important to her, or will be some day when she's able to take it up herself.

We'd love for you to join our team and walk with us on Saturday, May 14, 2016, at Stage AE on the North Shore in Pittsburgh, PA. (Registration is at 7:45 a.m., walks start at 9:00 and 9:15 a.m. if last year is any indication). OR...OR...you can sign up as a virtual walker. You don't have to be WITH us...to be with us. If that makes sense.

Here's the link:  Just a Lil Walk Team Page.  If you click that it should take you to the page.  Register as a walker, donate, or register as a virtual walker.  If you are walking with us, please get word to me what your t-shirt size is, so I can have enough shirts (and the right sizes) made.  Like last year I'll be ordering those nice soft shirts everyone seems to like.  Color to be determined...

OH!  Just to clarify something.  The Highmark page will ask you your tshirt size too.  That's because if you donate (I think it's $50) you get a free Highmark shirt.  When you click that size...I don't see it.  That's for Highmark...not Just a Lil Walk Team.  So...still need sizes regardless of whether you clicked that button when you registered.

I'll also link the event to the Just a Lil Blog Facebook page.   I've set a goal of $3,000.  I hope we beat it.

Lily and Emma and I will be down by the stadium at Stage AE on May 14th to walk. Whether we raise the $50 or $2500 or $10,000, we'll be there, and we'll have fun. And we'd love it if you could join us, or if you can't, if you could donate to the cause.

We have about three weeks to put together what we can sponsor/donation/team-wise so that I can get tshirts made for participants and make sure we get them in time for the walk.  After about the first week of May, I won't be able to change the tshirt orders.

Thanks,
Just a Lil Walk Team (Jim, Leslie (in spirit), Emma and Lily)

Sleep Walking

Friday night was Emma's chorus concert.  I took Lily and we watched the 7th and 8th graders sing.  Lily was really good throughout.

The walk was Saturday.  It was...well-attended.  Over 80 walkers signed up.  I'm not sure all of them made it (I know a couple didn't), but most did.  The weather looked gloomy and threatened rain, but turned warm and muggy instead.  I drove down early with Emma and a couple of her friends so that I'd be there for shirtless team members.

That sounds bad...

ABOARD is not ABOARD!  It's Aboard's Autism Connection of PA
I was afraid people would get lost, so I sent this out.  "The Beach is that way!"

 

Lily arrived with my parents and was VERY excited for the walk. 

I have two pics that both ALMOST capture the whole team.  I posted the other one on Facebook.

I just checked the website this morning and it says we raised $4,626 for (Aboard's) Autism Connection of PA.  I suspect when the final tally comes in it will top $5,000.  Amazing.  Leslie would be so excited. 

I talked to Emma that night.  She said she had a rough day.  I didn't notice it.  I was so busy caught up in the organization of it all, handing out shirts and handshakes, that I didn't see if she was visibly upset.  But she told me that she'd been sad.  She said, "Mommy really loved the Walk and it was hard doing it without her there."  And I almost said, "But she was honey, in our hearts," but I know that's not what she meant, and I know it wouldn't have made her feel better, and maybe would have made her feel worse, so I just squeezed her and told her that when I'd seen her she'd looked good and that I was sorry for not noticing and how proud mommy would have been at her and Lily and at all the money we raised for the charity, and if it didn't cheer her, at least it got her thinking about something more positive.

I hosted guests for much of the rest of the weekend, close friends who hadn't yet said goodbye to Leslie or seen the kids and me yet.  There were some tears, for sure.  Emma seemed a bit out of it, but assured me she was fine. 

That night I dreamed of Leslie.  It was the first time I'd dreamed of her since she passed.  I have been sort of living in fear of dreams.  You know how sometimes you have one of those dreams where you're really really angry with your spouse because they did something completely meaningless that only happens in dreams...like...painted the dog or something.  Anyway, the emotion is so strong and the feeling so real that you wake and you're still pissed.  Or, maybe it's the other way, that you dream something so great that when you wake up you're really sad to learn that the dream wasn't reality.

Ever since her death I've been dreading having dreams about Leslie where she's still alive, and the dream being so real and convincing that I'll wake up and get gut punched by the reality of her passing. 

It was a really short dream.  I forget all my dreams now, as if I never had them in the first place.  I don't remember when that started, maybe in my thirties.  When I woke, I knew I'd forget, and I thought about writing it down but didn't (it was like 4:30 in the morning).  Leslie was alive.  She was healthy and looked beautiful.  Her hair was long and thick like it was before chemo.  Sidebar:  She used to complain about her beautiful hair all the time.  It was too thick.  It took too long to get ready.  It was too hot.  You never see hairstyles for women with really thick hair.  And on and on.  But she knew she had great hair.  She was younger...maybe 35.  She was happy and smiling and we talked a little about nothing (that's why I decided not to try to write it down).  Like she was really alive.  Just a married couple chatting about nothing.  It was beautiful and fleeting. 

I woke up happy, which surprised me.  I think maybe even in the dream I realized it was only a dream.  So I woke happy, like I'd had a chance to tap into a particularly rich and vivid viewing of Leslie and see her smile again and hear her laugh again.  Like somehow this new experience with Leslie was almost like having her back alive again.  New words, new smiles, new laughs.  And then I got sad because as the dream started to fade away a bit the reality started to seep back in.  I went back to sleep but didn't dream about her again.


It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  It was even sort of...nice.  I'm not afraid to dream about Leslie anymore. 

The Third Walk from the Sun

I feel bad/good about the walk, but really mostly good.  The only actual bad thing is that I lowered our goal amount because I wasn't feeling as tied into my network as I have in the past.  I haven't been blogging as much recently, and so I feel a little isolated from that community.  It's my own fault.  Facebook has become a big time drag...it's completely my fault...and being more tied into facebook does have its support/autism benefits, but this was just the down side.

The good parts were these...

1)  We made new tshirts this year.  I finally pulled the trigger on spending a little more for them, so the shirts are a nice light weight nano cotton like a higher quality tshirt you might buy for yourself, and navy (so they can go with about anything) and the bacon tragedy meme is on the back (which got a LOT of feedback from other walkers who saw it and read it).

My nephew wears it well

Sidebar:  My niece was walking.  A woman came up to her and complimented her on her shirt.  She said something to the effect of..."I like your shirt.  My nephew has autism and he also really loves bacon.  (long pause) I wonder if there's some sort of link there."  My niece sort of politely smiled and nodded and was laughing about the story later.  Seriously...almost everyone loves bacon.  There's no link.

2)  The shirts were sponsored by Bill Few Associates.  At the end of the sign up the sponsorship didn't completely cover the cost of the shirts, but that's sort of a good thing.  Because...

3)  We had a shitload of people walk with us.  I think it's great that people give.  I think it's great that the charity got a lot of money...but it's one thing to cut a check, and a step above that still to cut a check and then show up at 7:45 and walk three miles.  We ended up with 50+ walkers.  It's SO cool to see a wall of blue shirts with Lily's logo on them all walking together.  Love it.

Just A Lil Walk Team

4)  Meeting friends.  My friend Jennifer drove from Delaware to walk with us.  We talk on Facebook (see above "benefits of being more tied into facebook").  I walked with her and had a blast.

Jim and Jennifer

5)  Everyone seemed to have fun.  Lily loved seeing her friends from school.  Emma loved walking with hers as well.

A meeting of the minds.

Where Jace goes, Lily follows.

6)  The weather was nice.  It threatened rain several times, and it was brisk, but it stayed sunny and was quite comfortable for walking.

and finally...

7)  We hit our goal.  The goal was $2,500, and currently the charity shows that we're at $2,515.  I still have $75 worth of unsent checks for ABOARD, and a couple other possible donors who indicated they might contribute (you can still do that through the website) here.  So at least $2,590 to the charity.  I didn't think we'd get there.  This is down about a grand from last year, but like I said, I didn't expect as much as last year.  So we hit it.  Thanks everyone who contributed and walked and we'll see you all (hopefully) again next year.

Step by Step

Yes, I'm still talking about Lily's walk.  The website sucks.  It works though, and so I figure perhaps with additional instruction, I can take some of the confusion out of registering for and joining, "Just a Lil Team". 

Previously I gave you the link to the page, but here it is again, Join Just a Lil Team.

Here is a step by step guide to what you will then encounter.  One of the biggest sources of confusion is that in past years it was very apparent once you clicked that link that you were joining the team and walking for ABOARD.  This year there's a loooooooot of clicking and entering to do before you ever see confirmation.


So clicking the above link takes you here:

You're on the team page, so it seems like you're joining the team when you click "Join Team", and you are.  But the next few pages make you start to second guess yourself.

Join as a New Participant.  I tried entering as a "Returning User"...you know...cause I was a user the previous two years?  Yeah, I guess not.

You can pick Walker or Virtual Walker.  I don't know if there's a minimum goal amount for a virtual walker, but there IS for a Walker.  It's $10.  I don't know why they're doing that this year.  I want to say that you have to go higher...like $25 or something if you want a Highmark tshirt, but don't quote me on that.  Click next step.

That form is pretty self explanatory.

Blah blah blah, terms and conditions apply, Next Step

You can either complete your registration, or register another person.  You're almost done.

You're there.  Finally tells you who your money benefits.  There's still no indication that you're on the team, but when you find the team link, you should see your name listed.  If not, please shoot me an email at blogginglily@gmail.com and I'll touch base with ABOARD or whomever, and get it straightened out.

Just a Lil Walk III: Rise of the Lily

It's that time of year once more.  I'm inviting friends and family to participate in Highmark's, "Walk for a Healthy Community" with us again this year. "Just a Lil Team" will once again be marching for Autism Connection of PA (aka ABOARD).  The beauty of the walk is that 100% of the donations go to the charity. 


Three years ago around September, when this blog was newer and greener, I broadcast a plea for help to the autism community at large and asked this question, "To whom should I donate my money if I want it to benefit autistic people and their families and caregivers?" That post is >>HERE<<. If you're getting this message via snail mail, you can't click the >>HERE<<, so stop trying, you're just tearing the paper.  If you're getting this message and can click, but refuse, I'll summarize it:  

Anyone who was autistic said, "Don't give money to Autism Speaks".  There were a lot of reasons, and most of them were good.  The consensus was, "give to someone who can help autistic people locally, or give to food banks or shelters", because the sad fact of life is that many autistic people not receiving supports or services are the people in the homeless shelters and benefiting from the food banks.  I'm paraphrasing the masses (it was not a particularly well-commented blog post of mine, but linking from post to post by others who had covered the topic, that was the message I got).  One local autistic adult mentioned ABOARD.  They had helped her personally.  I had attended a couple workshops they had put together with my wife, and had previously donated to them.  They're the folks who put together the Autism Friendly Santa Visit at the mall, (they did one for the Easter Bunny too, but we didn't go).

Since then we've gone to many of their sponsored events:
autism-friendly:

• days at an indoor playground

• Santa

• Trips to see the Pirates play

• Nutcracker Ballet

• Lion King

• Art March

• Gala

• Symposium (in the Spring)

• Grandparent seminars

And these are just the things our family has attended.  They've become our personal pet Autism Charity.  We're forming a team again this year, "Just a Lil Team", and using Lily as our rallying point.  This is a cause that's important to her, or will be some day when she's able to take it up herself.

We'd love for you to join our team and walk with us on Saturday, May 17, 2014, at Stage AE on the North Shore in Pittsburgh, PA.  (Registration is at 7:45 a.m., walks start at 9:00 and 9:15 a.m. if last year is any indication). OR...OR...you can sign up as a virtual walker.  You don't have to be WITH us...to be with us.  If that makes sense.

The Highmark page is different this year, so I don't have it linked like I did in the past.  Right now all I have is a URL, which is Team Page URL:  http://hcf.convio.net/site/TR/Pittsburgh/General?team_id=1918&pg=team&fr_id=1110. If you click that it should take you to the page.  I'll also link the event to the Just a Lil Blog Facebook page. I'm looking for sponsors (essentially if I can get someone to sponsor the team, I can get shirts for the participants, provided I have a head count two weeks before the walk) and I've set a goal of $2,500.  I feel bad about setting the same target as last year, but we're getting a late start and I don't want to freak out if I can't hit the goal.  Regardless I hope we beat it.

Lily and Emma and Leslie and I will be down by the stadium at Stage AE on May 17th to walk. Whether we raise the $50 or $2500 or $10,000, we'll be there, and we'll have fun. And we'd love it if you could join us, or if you can't, if you could donate to the cause.

We have about a month to put together what we can sponsor/donation/team-wise so that I can get tshirts made for participants and make sure we get them in time for the walk. (last year we did it five weeks in advance).  This still leaves us a couple weeks to get donations, but after about the first week of May, we won't be able to change the tshirt orders.

Thanks,
Just a Lil Walk Team (Jim, Leslie, Emma and Lily. . . so far)

Last year's shirt.  This year will be different.

We need sponsors for team t-shirts (last year that ended up being right around $600 for 50+  shirts.  I'm considering adding the autism/bacon/tragedy meme to the back of the shirt since that seems so popular, and leaving the front as currently designed.  The shirts will not be blue (as they were the first year we did it) or purple (the second year).  I know they will NOT be black (the tshirt guy says he has to double on the white paint to make it show up right on black.  Maybe gray...Not sure...entertaining options.

STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL HERE!!

In the Gutter

The day after we had our wine party we bowled in fundraiser benefiting Hemophilia.  What inspired us to schedule in that fashion?  Oh yeah...that was the Lord's doing.  The prior week a snow storm postponed the charity bowling event to the following week.  It probably occurred to Leslie that we would have to attend after the tasting, but it didn't occur to me.

I posted to facebook:

And it did.  But a couple Tylenols and I was good as new.  Leslie, however?  Well, I won't speak for Leslie in this matter.  But she didn't eat food that day.  Mostly.

We went to the bowling alley.  I kept calling it Treasure Island, but I think the actual name was Paradise Island.  Lily, who thought I was referencing the movie, "Chipwrecked" kept asking me where Zoe was. 

"She's on the island, Lil." (times a thousand)

We had fun.  Hangovers notwithstanding, we had a good time and raised money for bleeding disorders.  But I was tired.  Emma probably had the most fun.  They had a black light on so that colors looked glowy and vibrant and bumpers automagically popped up when it was her turn to bowl.  The alley was newer and clean.  And they served wings and pizza and fries.

Lily was not in love with the Alley.  The music was too loud.  There were too many people.  She was visibly anxious, holding on to things to keep her balance and find her place in the noise and bustle,  anchoring herself physically.  Papa took her outside to wander, but she lost interest and came back inside.

I felt really bad about it.  I mean, that much...muchness...it was too much for her.  But it's the debate we always have with ourselves as parents.  Do we push her limits to experience new things or do we exclude her from activities with the rest of the family knowing she'll struggle.  And it felt wrong not to include her.

Leslie and I initially flanked her so she wouldn't wander off.  She would hold our hands, or the ball rack.  I offered her a fry.

"NO!" she yelled at me, pushing my hand away, then grabbing the fry and eating it.  She was just very discombobulated.  Eventually she got accustomed to ambience.  She settled down, even sitting with us as we bowled.  I offered her a chance to roll the ball, but she didn't take me up on it, content to watch us instead, asking for her Aunt or Emma, someone...ANYONE who was not Leslie or me.  And once she started to settle down we did too.  She constantly asked to go to the bathroom, which was quiet and away from the noise, and I think she recognizes that whenever she asks we will automatically take her.  That was our experience when she was afraid at The Nutcracker.

The bowling itself was not spectacular.  I bowl maybe once every couple years, but I was particularly bad on Sunday.  For the first 5 frames I had at least one gutterball or complete miss each time.  I'm no pro, but that's pretty bad by my standards.  I was looking at maybe rolling a 70 or something by the time the 6th and 7th frames came up and I got two strikes in a row, followed by a 9.  I sort of breathed a sigh of relief.  Emma was going to beat me up until that point.  After that I was much more myself, still sucktacular, but not THAT sucktacular.

At one point they must have had 80's hour because every music video (they had flat panel monitors in the lanes that doubled as TV screens when the lanes weren't in use) was from the 80s, and we found ourselves getting Rick-rolled at the bowling alley.  I danced the dance.

By midway through the second round, I noticed my thumb was developing a blister.  Midway through the third, my hand and ass ached.  Who knew bowling was so physically demanding?

Today I'm sore.  From bowling.  Cause I'm fit.

My sister and her son ended up taking home a trophy for biggest team, which was cool, because we were on it so we felt like winners too.  And we also ended up with our own trophy...

Yeah.

The Walk

I keep putting this off.  It always seems so monumental after all the up front effort and sound and fury of the walk itself dies down to pick it back up again.  But it's worth it.  I'll try to stay somewhat brief.  I think last year's recap put most of you (who were around for it) to sleep, and I want to recognize the effort, the generosity, and the "give-a-shit" of Lily's friends and family...and extended internet family.

Let's first just "do the numbers".  Numbers are easy, and it'll be a nice comparison.





This year we used last year's kickass actual number for our aggressive goal...and beat the shit out of it.  So now NEXT year we'll use this year's kickass actual number for our goal and based on the chart (charts, and also hips don't lie.  But mostly charts) we'll raise close to $5,000.  Maybe.  Also based on extrapolation...by the year 2016 or 2017 we'll have 27,000 walkers.  Possibly my math will break down before then.  But CHARTS!

So in terms of how we did fundraising for ABOARD...we did awesome.  In terms of how we did against the other teams, however, despite mopping the floor with all but one team last year...THIS year some of the teams got big donations at the last minute and passed us at the finish line.  All in all I'm just excited that ABOARD had a successful walk...but...ultimately, I want to beat their asses next year.

What I've figured out is that we need one or two corporate/local business sponsors to make big donations.  A couple of the teams had donors who gave in excess of a $1000, or who had fund raised in order to write a big check for the walk.  If I want to keep growing the amount we give to the charity each year, that's what we'll have to do:  find a donor with an "in" to their corporate giving program.  This year my company did not contribute.  I have no "in".

This year we had a better handle on where things were and what to do, and ABOARD took it upon themselves to print out the labels that it took me so long to fill out last year (because we got one for every 5 walkers or something), so things went a little smoother.  Or at least it seemed that way to me.  I'm not sure how it was for all the walkers.  I try to talk to people, but they're with their families, which then fracture and disperse along age lines, with the kids finding the kids and the grown ups finding the grownups...and a few floaters hovering close to the kids AND the grownups so they can sort of participate in conversation, but also watch the kids.  It's hard to visit with everyone, or at least it's hard, after a certain point, to remember who you have and who you have not visited with in order to make sure you got everyone.

I hope we conveyed how much we appreciated everyone's support of us and Lily and of the charity.  But I sorta doubt I kicked ass in that department.  So I'm sorry if I didn't.  I felt a little scattered despite the additional ensmoothening that ABOARD provided.

The walk was great.  It was the best day of the year to that point.  Warm, not hot, sunny and clear and bright and cheerful, and they were playing music and having the crowd do stretches and there was dancing in the street and much rejoicing as we took off from the starters line and marched...EVER.  SO.  SLOWLY...past the starting line before the crowd started thinning by velocities...dopplering out past the starting line until we could lengthen our strides and get to doin' some serious WALKIN'.

It was fun.  People got shirts and some swag and a nice walk in downtown Pittsburgh and raised money for an awesome charity.  And I really love you all for contributing or walking or sharing updates or whatever.  Just thanks.

Here are some pictures from the big day:

Thanks everyone for helping make this another wonderful walk.

Just a Lil Walk II: Lily's Revenge

From Last Year's Walk

I'm inviting friends and family to participate in Highmark's, "Walk for a Healthy Community" with us again this year. This walk is near and dear to our little Lily, specifically because one of the participating organizations (the organization to which 100% of the proceeds will benefit) is ABOARD (Austim Connection of PA).  

Two years ago year around September, when this blog was newer and greener, I broadcast a plea for help to the community at large and asked this question, "To whom should I donate my money if I want it to benefit autistic people and their families and caregivers?" That post is >>HERE<<. If you're getting this message via snail mail, you can't click the >>HERE<<, so stop trying, you're just tearing the paper.  If you're getting this message and can click, but won't, I'll summarize it.  Anyone who was autistic said, "Don't give money to Autism Speaks".  There were a lot of reasons, and most of them were good.  The consensus was, "give to someone who can help autistic people locally, or give to food banks or shelters", because the sad fact of life is that many autistic people NOT receiving supports or services ARE the people in the homeless shelters and benefiting from the food banks.  I'm paraphrasing the masses (it was not a particularly well-commented blog post of mine, but linking from post to post by others who had covered the topic, that was the message I got).  One local autistic adult mentioned ABOARD.  They had helped her personally.  I had attended a couple workshops they had put together with my wife, and had previously donated to them.  They're the folks who put together the Autism Friendly Santa Visit at the mall, (they did one for the Easter Bunny too, but we didn't go).  

Since then we've gone to several of their sponsored events...autism-friendly days at an indoor playground, autism-friendly Santa, autism-friendly trips to see the Pirates play, a Gala (in a week), a symposium (in the Spring) and Lily's grandparents have gone to seminars as well.  They've become our personal pet Autism Charity.  We're forming a team again this year, "Just a Lil Walk", and using Lily as our rallying point.  This is a cause that's important to her, or will be some day when she's able to take it up herself.

We'd love for you to join our team and walk with us on Saturday, May 18, 2013, at Stage AE on the North Shore in Pittsburgh, PA.  (Registration is at 7:45 a.m., walks start at 9:00 and 9:15 a.m. if last year is any indication). OR...OR...you can sign up as a virtual walker.  You don't have to be WITH us...to be with us.  

I've created a page on the blog to allow you to sign up for the team. I've also linked an event to the Just a Lil Blog Facebook page. I'm looking for sponsors (essentially if I can get someone to sponsor the team, I can get shirts for the participants, provided I have a head count two weeks before the walk) and I've set a goal of $2,500.  Last year we set a goal of $1,000 and easily beat the shit out of it.  Sorry...didn't mean to swear.  It seems like a lot, but I feel like I want to stretch for it a little and see what we can come up with.  

It's really not FOR Lily. Lily has us, and her family, and our friends. She's as blessed to have people who love her as we are to have her in our lives. Not everybody is as lucky as we are.  So while it's not for LILY, per se, it's for people like Lily, that don't have the support she has.  We've set up a team. We have a goal. Lily and Emma and Leslie and I will be down by the stadium at Stage AE on May 18th to walk. Whether we raise the $50 or $2500 or $10,000, we'll be there, and we'll have fun. And we'd love it if you could join us, or if you can't, if you could donate to the cause. 

This year I'm on the ball...setting all this up the first day I could.  We have about 3 months to put together what we can sponsor/donation/team-wise so that I can get tshirts made for participants and make sure we get them in time for the walk. (last year we did it five weeks in advance). 

Thanks, 
Just a Lil Walk Team (Jim, Leslie, Emma and Lily. . . so far)

Last year's shirt.  This year will be different.

We need sponsors for team t-shirts (last year that ended up being right around $500 for 48 (?) shirts.  I'll check that number later, cause I don't have it here, but the more team members means less $/shirt when I get them made).  If we get more members, we'll need more for shirts.  But $500 would probably outfit the lot of us.

So You Want to Give Money to Autism. . .

I have money burning a hole in my pocket (ICHIRO, Getty Images)

I do.  I really do.  Every year my company (through United Way) encourages my fellow employees to give.  While United Way is my company's charity of choice, the pledge process allows you to select any charity you find worthy.  Excellent!  So every year I give.  I'll be honest, before I knew I had a child on the spectrum I didn't give money to Austism organizations.  I've sorta just flitted from charity to charity depending upon the cause du jour.  For example:  After 9/11, I gave to the Red Cross.  After Katrina, I gave to flood relief.  Before that I gave to the National Hemophilia Foundation (a relative has hemophilia).  Now I'm giving to autism.  

But. . . I really know nothing about the charities in question.  Autism Speaks?  ABOARD?  A local non-profit school for autistic children?  It's pretty confusing stuff, and I really haven't been in a position to utilize a lot of any of their services.  So. . . despite not really having the kind of readership that will allow me to get any kind of meaningful consensus about what folks in the community feel are the 'worthy' austism charities, I'm asking:  Who do I give my millions hundreds to?  

If you read this blog, and have a favorite, please name them, and let me know why.  I really am not wedded to any (as I said) and your input may* actually impact my decision.  And if nobody responds I'll almost certainly waste it on hookers and blow gadgets and lunches out with colleagues.

*author reserves the right to blow off any opinions and go with his gut