{"id":405,"date":"2012-09-10T03:41:27","date_gmt":"2012-09-10T03:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=405"},"modified":"2012-09-10T03:41:27","modified_gmt":"2012-09-10T03:41:27","slug":"20-days-to-go-the-last-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=405","title":{"rendered":"20 Days to Go: The last parade"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This wasn\u2019t what I had planned for today\u2019s blog, but I just felt God had different plans.\u00a0 For the last four years, our main marketing for Reed\u2019s Run has been local parades.\u00a0 We have been giving away bubbles, pencils, stickers, beads, informational cards, and magnets.<\/p>\n

Every organization has people who go above and beyond and Reed\u2019s Run is no different.\u00a0 One person for parades has spent the last four years washing her truck, entering our units, and watching diligently to keep everyone safe.\u00a0 Affectionately known to all of us as the parade queen, Linda was given a tiara by our family to keep the\u00a0spirit going. One of Reed\u2019s best buddies has been so sweet to bring his refurbished tractor (Grand Champion 4-H project)\u00a0decked out\u00a0with Reed magnets to the parades.\u00a0 Of course, it didn\u2019t hurt that his tractor matched Reed\u2019s favorite color.<\/p>\n

I have always loved a good parade, especially the Fiesta Five Flags parade in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida.\u00a0 But prior to Reed\u2019s Run, I had only been in a couple parades as a kid.\u00a0 Nothing compares to the warm feelings you get while walking along small town streets.\u00a0 Seeing the anticipation in the eyes of the little ones waiting for whatever goodie we might have that day was priceless.<\/p>\n

I was always blown away when there were the pockets of people who would clap uproariously because they stood behind our mission.\u00a0 More than once, I cried when we received standing ovations.\u00a0 It is hard to explain but when we had that type of reception, deep down we knew that our sweet redhead wouldn\u2019t be forgotten.<\/p>\n

Over the years, we have participated in many local festival parades.\u00a0 We were welcomed by the sweet folks of Tyler. We have roasted at Cottonwood\u2019s Coming Days, but we loved every minute of it.\u00a0 We have partied with Belgian American Days, and we have been embraced by their love.\u00a0 We have sung a song or two at Marshall\u2019s Sounds of Summer parade, and we even went back to our roots in the St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade.\u00a0 We have had huge team turnout for the Wood Lake fair parade, but mostly, I think that was because everyone wanted to stay for burgers afterward.\u00a0 We have enjoyed a labor (day) of love at Tracy, and we always are amazed at the turnout.\u00a0 Each year’s parade season ends at the place where Reed got his first true snuggly hat, Minneota\u2019s Boxelder Bug Days.\u00a0 While rivals in school competitions, only love has been shared with our family in real life from the town of Minneota. \u00a0Retiring in the town where Huck visits his nursing home friends and having them right at the end of the parade route was simply a divinely, poetic ending.<\/p>\n

So it came as quite a shock to me as we loaded up with our parade accoutrement today when I started to sob.\u00a0 May be it was foreshadowing for the big day and I am more emotional than I think I am, but\u00a0I really wasn\u2019t prepared for my reaction. \u00a0It is only a parade after all.<\/p>\n

No, it really isn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em> It has been a safe place to go and to share about Reed\u2019s Run, but more than that it has been like our family and dear friends have been given a big group hug every step of the parade route.\u00a0Even today where cyberhugs were coming via facebook from my\u00a0cousin-in-law.\u00a0Parades have\u00a0been encouragement and sanctuary wrapped up into one.\u00a0 It has been a wonderful place to see just how many people have prayed and cared for us over the years, and for that I am truly THANKFUL.<\/p>\n

To the towns of Ghent, Cottonwood, Wood Lake, Tyler, Tracy, Minneota, and Marshall, THANK YOU for the memories.\u00a0 \u00a0To our team members, who have walked, hugged, chatted, explained, sacrificed, limped, and laughed with us, THANK YOU for always loving us.<\/p>\n

We have been loved in the storm, embraced and supported\u00a0following the storm, and encouraged each and every candy strewn step of the way.\u00a0Even though my\u00a0journey today was filled with tears (and smiles),\u00a0it was all worth it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This wasn\u2019t what I had planned for today\u2019s blog, but I just felt God had different plans.\u00a0 For the last four years, our main marketing for Reed\u2019s Run has been local parades.\u00a0 We have been giving away bubbles, pencils, stickers, beads, informational cards, and magnets. Every organization has people who go above and beyond and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[56,125,390,411,461,526,625,637,661],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}