Friday was the end of the 2018 Rowan Windham Memorial
Cereal Drive at Methodist Children's Hospital, benefiting the San Antonio Food Bank,
as part of the National Cereal Drive and the Million Summer Meals for Kids. However, it was about WAY more than cereal...it was
about perspective, which if you knew Rowan...makes perfect sense.
The number one thing I have heard from people since his
death is that Rowan helped people with their perspective, that they learned not
to complain about their problems because of him and his outlook on life.
The same is true for me. his mother.
Don't get me wrong...there is absolutely nothing worse than
losing a child (at least not that I have experienced or can imagine). Now
remember, I lost my own mother 3 weeks to the day that Rowan died, suddenly and
unexpectedly. It was the worst day of my life...until I lost my
son. A few times I questioned whether I should voice that, wondering if
people would think less of me, or think that I wasn't sad about losing my
Mom. That is just not the case though. I was devastated...like fall
to your knees in shock crying, when my family called me from Ohio to tell me my
Mom was gone. But the thing is, I fell to my knees next to my own child's
PICU bed. When I felt guilty about not being able to attend her funeral
(think about that...I could not go to my own mothers funeral!). I was
more than 2000 miles away, Rowan was critically ill, post transplant number
two, on dialysis... how could I leave him? And when I asked myself that
question I realized, my Mom would have NEVER left my side, EVER. I had my
answer. I had perspective.
The cereal drive gave me perspective this year too.
Rowan never ate a bowl of cereal in his life, yet we continue to collect cereal
for thousands of children in his name each year. Then, Michael Guerra
from the San Antonio food Bank shared with us that there are children in our
community who actually fail classes on purpose, just so they can attend Summer
school and be assured breakfast and lunch each day. Can you imagine?
Failing school, forgoing your Summer break, going to school all Summer, just so
you can eat. That is the definition of food insecurity, and it is a real
problem. Hopefully, we can end it. It won't be in Rowan's lifetime,
like he hoped...but maybe it will be in ours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Ian and I arrived at Methodist Children's Hospital
this past Friday, with our final load of cereal donations, we were shocked (in
a good way:). The lobby was filled with the most beautiful assortment of
colorful cereal boxes you have ever seen...tons of them! I immediately
smiled and said to myself "we got this Rowan", and I just knew that
the goal had been hit...just not how far it had been blown out of the water.
We were given our shirts for this year, which were awesome!
This year, a new event was added to reveal day,
"Rowan's Breakfast of Champions". I cried when I saw the
banner hanging from the table.
It was to honor heroes in our community, both children and
adults. It was inspired by Rowan's legacy of "making the
good". I knew about it, but did not realize how profound it would
be. The set up was perfect. There was a head table for our adult
heroes, and 3 surrounding tables for 6 children who were impacting the world in
a positive way too. Ian was one of the members on the youth panel, being
recognized for the way he has excelled personally and academically, all while
continuing to help his little brother's legacy live on in so many ways (Be the
Match, Rowan Windham Memorial Cereal Drive, Rowan Jameson Windham
Foundation). I could not be prouder of
him.
They had a special sign marking my spot at the table too...so sweet:)
The 3 adult champions were Frank Wilson (Head Coach of the
UTSA Football Team), Matt Bonner (Former San Antonio Spurs Player), and Manny
Diote (Founder of Ferarri Kids).
The children asked each of the adults questions
about how their personal experiences helped inspire them and how they made it
through tough times.
These 3 men were such amazing encouragers,
and gave wonderful advice to the youth, as well as to the crowd. They
talked about perseverance, strength, and giving back to your community.
At the end of the session, I was able to thank them all for participating, and
gave them each one of Rowan's bracelets. I was very emotional. I explained that I missed Rowan so very much,
but that I could see him all around that table that day. I saw him in
each of them, and in all the good they were making. It was a special
moment...an event that I hope they continue to include in this cereal drive.
We had a photo opportunity afterwards, before heading
downstairs for the final cereal total reveal.
Thank you Manny, Coach Wilson and Matt.
You were a great addition to our special day, and tremendous assets to our
community.
Thank you to the SA Spurs for posting about the event later that evening too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cereal drive press conference was overwhelmingly
powerful as well. Robert Lenza, CEO of Methodist Children's Hospital, gave the
history of the drive, and explained how Rowan came to be involved. Then
they showed a very emotional video of Rowan over the years at MCH. It was
narrated with a letter written by one of Rowan's long time favorite PICU
nurses, Trudy. The way she explained his compassion was beautiful.
I cried my eyes out. He was such a beautiful child, with a heart of
gold. They captured his spirit perfectly.
Thank you Mr. Lenza for allowing my boy's legacy to live on
through your staff and this event. Thank you to Captain Cereal, Greg, for
holding me up as I wept in front of the crowd throughout the video. Thank
you Trudy, for caring for Rowan over the years, and for explaining his
compassionate way so beautifully. Thank you Nichelle for bring me the
napkin so I could wipe the tears from my eyes. Thank you Stacy and
Veronica for your obvious labor of love, which I realize involves a lot of
labor, but is also extremely full of love.
Thank you Cheri for helping promote this drive, and for the addition of
the very special Rowan’s Breakfast of Champions. Thank you to ever member of the hospital
staff who helped make this cereal drive successful once again this year, and
for everything you do to help families and patients like ourselves every day.
What an amazing group of people. Everyone pulled together to help wrap the pallets of cereal and load those trucks...SA Food Bank staff, nurses, doctors, and other hospital staff, Ian and I, members of Gencure's staff, and even children of hospital staff members. It was truly a sight to behold. Awesome teamwork.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drumroll please…
Then, while dozens of us were loading up 3 SA Food Bank trucks, even more cereal continued to be dropped off outside, and more texts came in regarding cereal totals that were on their way. So, in the end this year’s total ends up being:
200,000
servings of cereal!
The overall hospital winners were:
Division Winner- Advanced Clinicals/IT&S Team: 77,892 servings
Unit Winner- Pedi Surgical: 12,299 servings
Look at these hats that they made! So adorable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I also want to thank everyone who helped us grow Rowan’s
individual memorial donation amount…
Judy & Caleb Windham
Cindy & Duane BuetheYahan Xie, Classmates & Friends
Jen Salinas, Tamika Haley & Friends
Locastro Family
Terry Galbraith
Colleen Krupp
Tessa & Jaxon
Ogles/Doucettes
Including all of the awesome businesses that agreed to be cereal
collection stations on Rowan’s behalf…
Woodlawn Theater
Keller Williams Cityview
Gencure/South Texas Blood & Tissue Center locations
Copa Wine Bar
&
Comal Drug
in New Braunfels
Together, along with our own purchases of cereal, you all
helped us deliver 9061 servings on Rowan’s behalf. That is nearly 3 times the amount he
collected that first year from his hospital room, and it put him next in line
this year, right behind the division and unit winners, ahead of all the other
units of the hospital! It was a group
effort for sure, and we are so grateful to you all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the most powerful moments of the day Friday was when Michael
Guerra, from the SA Food Bank, with tears in his eyes, said that because of
Rowan’s legacy, he was hopeful that San Antonio just may be one of the first
cities to end Summer childhood hunger.
What a beautiful day that will be.
I hope he’s right. Knowing Rowan's spirit, I believe he is.
Michael, you
and the rest of the staff of the SA Food Bank are the real heroes. You feed the community not just in the
Summer, but throughout the year, and in times of great crisis. You are the hands and feet of Jesus. Thank you.
I love you Rowan… your light is still shining bright down here. Imagine how many children will have breakfast because you inspired people to “make the good”!
In memory of Rowan Jameson Windham
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