As most of my friends and family are aware, both my brother-in-law, Merrill Curran, as well as our uncle, Jonathan Curran, have down syndrome.  I volunteered (signed-up) to run as a Bell Runner in the New York Marathon, on behalf of The Bell Center in Birmingham, Alabama.  The Bell Center randomly paired me with a current child to run in honor of and I was paried with precious, Joy, who also has down syndrome.  If you believe in "god-winks" like I do, I believe I was paired with Joy to run in honor of all the children who were born with down syndrone.  May their light and spirits always shine bright! 

I am running the New York Marathon on November 3rd.  All of the money we raise goes to The Bell Center and the Early Intervention Programs.  For all my friends and family that are not familiar with The Bell Center, I copied the following from their website.  "Since 1984, The Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs has provided quality early intervention services in a center-based program in Birmingham.  Here, infants and toddlers at risk for developmental delay receive services from transdisciplinary teams which include a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a speech-language pathologist and an early childhood special education teacher as each child works on specific individual developmental goals".