I feel on top of the world right now. I just called my boyfriend and he had to remind me to breath because I was talking a million miles an hour about what a GREAT night I had.
In Northfield, the Girls' Group (composed of neuro-typical girls, girls with Autism, and loving, supportive parents) meets monthly to have fun! 2 months ago, I met these girls at Steps of Hope. I saw this group carrying signs and dressed it letter jackets and scarves that had school colors on them, so I asked them where they were from. When they said Northfield, I got so excited and told them I was from Northfield to! We immediately took a group picture (in which Erin was chanting OLES! OLES! OLES! in my ear) and exchanged contact information).
Tonight, the girls met to scrapbook their experiences with the group. Steps of Hope gave them a $1000 grant to keep there program running, so tonight, they sought to document everything they had done. Each girl made their own personal page with their favorite colors and pictures of them at their favorite events. They even let me make a page! We used the picture we took from Steps of Hope and took a few more (see below) from tonight and printed them off right away.
Later, we took pictures of each of them (girls, moms AND DADS included) during their "crowning moment." Now THIS was great. Some girls were more than willing to jump up and take a silly picture with me crowning them. Some needed a little more prompting. The girls resorted to CHANTING peoples' names. "Kelly! Kelly! Kelly!" We even got Kelly and Maggie's dad Randy to take a picture. Afterward, they asked me about my involvement with Miss America and I told them nothing but wonderful things of course! I really hope some of them can make it to the pageant! I'm working on getting some of the girls to run for Miss MN's Outstanding Teen as well! (Girls, I know you're reading this! DO IT!)
I am thrilled to have been invited into this group. I will be doing as many events as I can with them including (hopefully, schedule permitting) the Arts a la Carte this Friday and a special manicure day. These girls are so inspiring. I WISH all kids with Autism (AND neuro-typical kids) had the chance to interact this way. There was no division between the girls. They were all FRIENDS, HANGING OUT, BEING TEENS. I have fallen head over heels in love with this group and I can't wait to get to know them more as the years go by! Thank you so much! You girls rock!
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