The Inspiration

Sirdeaner Walker addressed Congress this week to talk about the importance of passing the Safe Schools Initiative. If passed, this would increase federal funding to start programs to educate schools and teachers on how to deal with and eradicate bullying in schools. Mrs. Walker is the mother of Carl Walker Hoover, the 11 year old boy that I talk about in my mission at the beginning of this blog.

I had been planning on tackling a triathlon for over a year now. I was going to do it last summer but could never find my inspiration. I started thinking about it again this spring. I read about Carl shortly after his suicide in April and things started falling into place. I knew then that I was going to accomplish my goal and I knew that I wanted to partner with GLSEN to raise money as a way of honoring the memory of Carl.

In my sprint distance race I thought of Carl twice - once when I got panicked in a mass of other swimmers and another biking up the hardest hill. I just kept thinking "you can do this, giving up is no longer an option". I feel like Carl is depending on me to finish what I started.

I know that Mrs. Walker will never read my blog or know about my meager efforts to end this huge problem. Perhaps it is enough to put something like this out for the collective winds of the universe to carry. I have no doubt she is well aware of the effect that Carl had on people's lives both in his life and in his death. And I am no exception.