The talk of taking Hayden to a NASCAR race really got serious when we went to Las Vegas and toured the track. We had never seen Hayden so excited about anything. From the minute we pulled into the track from the moment we left he had a huge grin. We could just feel his excitement. That was when Mike and I really started wondering how we could make this happen for him. We knew the noise and the crowd would be our biggest issues. Hayden hates loud noises and big crowds. We knew the only way that he could enjoy a race would be in a suite. Then we started discussing the cost of making that happen. We knew there would be no other way so we made the commitment and started praying he would enjoy himself. That he would make it through the whole race and that we would not regret it. We knew we had to try at least once and if he didn't enjoy himself well then we didn't have to do it again. So on the weekend of April 13th we took off on the 5 hour drive to Dallas. Because of traffic we basically had to head straight to the track on Friday. He Because of one amazing grandma and ton of awesome family, friends and strangers Hayden was going to meet his favorite driver Juan Pablo Montoya (JPM). So we waited about a half hour for him to ride up on a golf cart and then I said a little prayer "lord, please let Hayden recognize and be excited to see him". He knew who he was from a distance and the amazement on Hayden's face was worth more than we paid for our entire weekend. JPM got on his knees and said hello and talked with Hayden for a few minutes, we took pictures and then JPM presented Hayden with a bag of goodies. At about this time a crowd began to gather so Hayden got very hyperaroused and panicked. JPM looked at the crowd and said "You need to all back up and wait until I am done with this little boy". He at that moment in my eyes became the most amazing sports guy ever!!! I have to say the crowd was awesome too. They all backed up and one guy even offered to take the stuff Mike was holding so that Mike could take care of Hayden. Really says a lot about NASCAR drivers and fans.
Hayden Meeting his favorite Driver
This was JPM telling the other fans to back up!
Now I know you are all wondering if Hayden enjoyed his first NASCAR race. Well I will let you be the judge of that.
In case this video was not enough to convince you and you have a little more time watch this one.
Mike said Hayden was like this for three hours straight! Didn't even want to get out of his seat to eat! When he walked into the hotel room after the race he still had a huge smile on his face. He started telling me all about the race and the pits. So Yep it was WORTH EVERY PENNY. The boys are already trying to figure out what track they will be visiting next year.
Again I send you all a heartfelt thank you for sharing the Facebook page or saying a pray. We are so blessed to have such amazing family and friends in our lives. To those of you who had never heard of Hayden or Fragile X, I am so thankful that you took the time to find out and help us out. There is so much negative in the world it is so nice to know that there are people who still care. People who have no idea who my little boy is stopped to take a minute and help him meet his favorite driver. That is just amazing to me. Because of all of you, Hayden got to meet his favorite driver and Mike and I were able witness our little boys dream come true. To think I wasn't even going to go. Geesh what was I thinking.
Not sure if he will ever see this but, Juan Pablo Montoya you are a class act. From the bottom of our hearts thank you for taking time out your schedule and for being such a nice guy. To Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Shayna Keller I cannot thank you enough for everything. I know that there are so many more people to thank and we will never truly know how many people had a hand in this, please know that we will forever be grateful.
Love,
Tina
1 comment:
Okay. Not much brings me to tears, but I just wiped a few away just so I could see the screen to type this. Even though I already knew the story, reading it here and hearing the description of Hayden's reaction just made me so happy. And then to remember how awesome JPM was to ask the crowd to hold off a minutes, which they did (even more amazing), made the tears flow. I'm so happy you all got to experience this. I hope Hayden can always remember it :)
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