"Dolphin Tale," and why you should go see it.

Last week, a few days before we were due to leave for our first trip to Chicago to get the boys started on the clinical drug trial, I started having doubts.  I was concerned about this long car trip and how the boys would handle it.  I was worried about the evaluation and examination before we started the trial - the blood draw, the EKG.  This was all going to be so tough on them.  What if it wasn't worth it?  What if this drug just doesn't seem to do anything for them?

I really wasn't concerned that it would be harmful.  I trust the trial doctor implicitly.  She's one of the greatest Fragile X Syndrome doctors in the world.

I wasn't worried about side effects  - I was nervous that we were going to spend a fortune making multiple roadtrips to Chicago and wouldn't see any results at all.  I was nervous that we'd taken the boys off their anxiety medication for this, put them through the withdrawal and a very tough autumn and start of school, all for nothing - if it didn't work.

Maybe I overthought it a bit.

The afternoon before we were to leave, Aliza and I had some mother-daughter time together, and we went to see the movie"Dolphin Tale."  It's about a kid who finds a beached and injured dolphin and ends up helping the marine hospital to care for it.  The dolphin loses its tail and a rebel scientist played by Morgan Freeman takes on the challenge of making a prosthetic tail so the dolphin can swim normally again.

It's a true story.

At the end, there are scenes from the real dophin (named "Winter") that inspired the movie, and the many people with disabilities who came from far and wide to see her.  This animal, swimming around with its artificial tail, has such spunk and energy and heart.  Many, many people with a variety of disabilities found a kindred spirit and inspiration in Winter.

It reminded me that we might have to venture out of our own backyard to find inspiration.  We might have to travel.

Winter rejected the first couple of tails Morgan Freeman's character made for her.  They just weren't quite right.  But he kept going back to the drawing board and trying again.

It reminded me that it's important to keep trying, even if we are faced with roadblocks and rejection.

The look on the faces of these children and adults, some in wheelchairs and some missing limbs, when they got into the water with Winter was absolutely overwhelming for me.  They were so awed.  They live in worlds where they are different, and not often in a positive way.  Winter was so beautiful and graceful and special, and maybe it reminded them that they are beautiful and graceful and special, too.

It reminded me that it's important to reach for the stars.

It was a great movie and you should go see it.  Bring some tissues.