Spina Bifida Spirit Wheel Walk Run

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing and butter the bread,

Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

By Ruth Hamilton

This is the letter I wrote for the SB&H's Current magazine and for their website

This is the 2^nd year we have taken part in the Spirit Wheel Walk Run and I am extremely proud of how hard my family, friends and I worked on this year’s event.  At the beginning of this year Helen Sklarz asked me if I would like to volunteer my time as well in obtaining some prizes for the SWWR.  I couldn’t say no since they have done so much for my family as well as for so many families living with the challenges of Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. It was challenging at times since I was busy with a newborn and quite frankly I was just not very good at asking for things.  By the end of it though, I was a real pro at it and obtained some really cool prizes.  My son even donated a prize he won from Breakfast Television, which made me feel really proud.  I also have to say it was a life changing experience for me and I have now obtained a new nickname which I cannot mention since this is a family publication : )  If you want to learn more about my experience in helping with this event check out:

http://raymentspinabifida.blogspot.com/

We had an amazing time in this year’s event and raised $2000 for the SB&H.  16 of my friends and family joined in the walk this year and we walked 10km up Hwy 50 in Bolton.  We proudly carried the SB&H banner and had tons of people honk at us or even stop to ask questions. It was an incredibly beautiful day and I am so blessed by all the incredible friends and family who took part in the event and those who supported us along the way.  Hopefully next year we will raise even more money and help educate even more people about Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus!

The main reason I take part in this yearly event is because my older son Jacob was born with spina bifida. We had only found about his condition when I was 38 weeks pregnant so we were pretty freaked out about the whole thing. My sister-in-law Sheila was a Urology Nurse at Sick Kids so she was able to point us in the right direction for help. One of her resources that she suggested was SB&H. Everyone there has been an amazing help in teaching us about Jake's condition and all the resources that we can access.

The other reason I took part in this event was to educate others about spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Since Jake was born you wouldn't believe the amount of insensitive questions and comments people have made about Jake and his SB. I used to get a little ticked off but now I use these situations to inform people about spina bifida, and hopefully they will pass on what they learned to others.

Jake's spina bifida has made things tough but at the same time it has made us all stronger and we have met so many amazing people. I truly believe in the motto “What doesn’t kill you makes you strong”

Here are a few more of the prizes we have recieved.  Some of the other prizes I dont have pictures for right now are:

2 Signed Books by Julie Kenner

Signed book by Bertrice Small

Signed book by Charlaine Harris

2 Books from Forresters Book Garden

4 Gift Cards for Walmart from Sarah Fleming Realty

XM Sattelite Radio package won from BT and donated by Jake

3 DVD's won from BT and donated by Me (Burn after Reading, The Women and Hamlet 2)

$25 Gift Card from Scholers Choice

3 $25 Gift Cards from M&M Meats

and maybe more to come : )

Well ladies and gents, my walks are done!  I just want to thank all the wonderful -- and brave people who tackled the giant hill and the rest of the walk in Bolton.  Its pretty late and I am typing this in Jesse's room while he slumbers, so this is just going to be a short blog -- More to come later.  Here are some shots of my amazing friends and family at the walk.  You guys are INCREDIBLE -- the J Rayments and all those living with Spina Bifida THANK YOU!!!  I will have a final total around the end of June, but I think we made it pretty close to $2000 -- and that is WITHOUT getting on BT and talking about the walk.  WE ROCK!

Thanks BT!!!!

BT