Yesterday, guest blogger Kathy Guzzo shared her initial reaction filled with special needs anxiety when her daughter Andrea announced she was planning to run in the Chicago Marathon. Today, Kathy explains how she came to accept her daughter’s decision and what she learned as her daughter trained for the big event.

From Special Needs Anxiety to Pride: A Mother’s Marathon, Pt 2

When our children were young we would tell them that could do anything they wanted to, that even though they may not be the best at something, the important things was that they do their best.  Andrea’s taking those words to heart and is willing to give her all to try something extraordinary and I really am proud of her. I’ve never met anyone that knows their body, its capabilities, as well as its limitations as well as she does. She told me she when we first discussed the race that she had gotten her doctor’s okay and was being monitored by him as she trained.  She’s always been determined and focused, which I’ve said before is what at times has kept her alive, which gave me confidence in her decision to run.

Trust is a Part of the Training

In the months since when others learn that she’s training for this marathon, they all get the same look of astonishment of their face that says, “Is she crazy or what?”  Then they’ll ask me what I think of it, and I can say to them that although I have my concerns as any mother would even if their children were healthy and they undertook a marathon, I’m okay with it because it’s something she wants to do, and I trust her to know her limits.

The Training Is Worth It

I realize now as the days draw very near to the race, that getting to this point in my life where I can let her do what she needs to do in life, without becoming extremely worried, has been a marathon for me.  Each day of the ten years of her illness has been a day of training. As she’s become an adult with a chronic illness, I’ve had to be committed to let her live her life, dedicated to support her in her decisions and focused on being her biggest supporter. So on October 9, 2011, when thousands are running that race in Chicago, I will be on the sidelines, not waiting to see her collapse, but anticipating the exhilarating feeling she’s going to experience. Regardless of the outcome of the race we’ve both won just by being there, she the runner and me on the sidelines cheering my heart out with pride.

So How Did the Marathon and Your Battle with Special Needs Anxiety Go?

After the marathon, I emailed Kathy to see how Andrea did in the marathon. Here’s her response:

Andrea decided last Monday not to run. My 90-year-old mother-in-law was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Andrea only has a certain number of vacation days  so she said she wanted to save them in order to come home to see her grandma. I’m sure you can understand that as the mom I had mixed feelings on this. I felt bad because she’d trained so hard and  really wanted to run. (She recently told me a marathon was on her ‘bucket list.’) But on the other hand I was relieved that she wouldn’t be running. I don’t believe God allowed my mother-in-law to get lung cancer to stop Andrea from running, but I do believe that He used this once again to show me that He is in control. I could’ve spent the last 6 months worrying and telling Andrea I didn’t think running was a good idea, but instead my support of her actually gave me peace. That’s definitely God.

After reading Kathy’s update, my admiration for Andrea grew. She chose time with her grandmother over crossing something off her bucket list. Race or no race, she’s a champion in my book.

Part One

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