You got us 3,000 votes! That’s AMAZING! Now what?
You did it!
Three thousand votes in just three weeks. That’s an average of more than 140 votes a day. That’s pretty amazing. You’re pretty amazing. Thank you for voting. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for caring enough about our little girl that you want to see her have every opportunity to thrive.
Thank you for being awesome.
“I didn’t know…”
Through the conversations that have come up because of this voting campaign, several people mentioned that they didn’t know that Mihret couldn’t walk. I guess I can’t really blame you for not knowing. Other than a few references to physical therapists and the occasional glimpse of her pink wheelchair in a photo or two, I really haven’t talked about Mihret’s physical challenges that come from her coordination issues due to her lack of much of a cerebellum. It’s not that I’ve been trying to hide it. Just didn’t really feel the need to blog about it at that time.
I also don’t want to become the guy who introduces himself by saying, “Hi. I’m Matt. My daughter’s adopted. And she’s in a wheelchair. How are you?” That just doesn’t feel right on many, many levels. I promise I wasn’t trying to keep anyone in the dark about this and I’m certainly not trying to hide the fact that my beautiful daughter happens to use a wheelchair. If you’ve spent any time around her at all, you’d know that she doesn’t believe she has any limitations, even if her body doesn’t always agree with her. We’d kind of like for her attitude to stay that way. She’s surprised doctors and therapists over and over and over again because she refuses to quit. The girl has spunk. I pray it never goes away.
In the few short years that we’ve had the wheelchair, my eyes have been opened to how the world treats people with Special Needs – especially physical needs. Let me tell you, some of it isn’t very pretty – even in some churches (unfortunately). Maybe it’s time for me to start using this blog to highlight some of that from time to time. I guess you’ll have to come back on occasion to find out, huh?
So now what?
The big question now that the voting is over is “What happens next?” Well, the sponsors of the contest are running the numbers and figuring out who the finalists are. The top 5% vote-earners will go before a panel. That list is supposed to be announced sometime this week ( 5/13-20). The panel will choose three winners from this group of top vote-earners.
While we certainly hope we’re one of the three nominees who are chosen to win the van, we’ll be celebrating with all of the winners – even if we aren’t chosen. I wish each and every candidate could be given a wheelchair-accessible van. I know it will be life-changing for whoever is selected.
Thank you!
We are kind of shocked and quite humbled at the response we have had during this vote campaign. Mihret received an average of 142 votes a day. That’s a lot of votes. That’s a lot of dedication. We cannot thank you enough for helping us gain so many votes in such a short time. ThankyouThankyouThankyou!
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