Bethany's Buddy

From left to right in this picture:
Grant Pierson, Colten Shields, Kaylea Bryan, Sophie Bryan, Bethany Bullard.

Bethany is a dear friend. Last weekend, about 5,000 friends in the Greater Kansas City Metro gathered together at Arrowhead Stadium to celebrate "First Downs for Down's Syndrome," also known as the Buddy Walk. Over $300,000 was raised, as there was music, food, tents, games, artists, clowns, cheerleaders, Ronald McDonald, and a few Kansas City Chiefs. We ate together, and walked a mile around both stadiums on a gorgeous day.

I wish everyone had a friend like Bethany. She loves my singing and how I play the guitar, especially when it's a Sandi Patty song. She'd rather hold my hand and give me a hug and sit next to me than hear me teach. She wants to go to London and ride a double-decker bus, and I am one of the privileged that gets a top-deck seat with her.

Kaylea and Bethany have also connected. Kaylea learned that Bethany dislikes fireworks as much as she does. Ah, the joy of a kindred spirit. Someone at the grocery store saw Kaylea wearing her Buddy Walk t-shirt, and asked her about it. She commented, "Buddy Walk is a way that we help our friends who talk a little different than we do."

I think we need Buddy Walks for Iraqis, Africans, Germans, Russians, Mexicans...