I know I don't talk much sometimes about Russell's cerebral palsy, but this week, he had a breathrough. Hell, we both did.

He decided that he was going to go out for Cross-country, i.e., track and I encouraged the snot out of him to do it. One day, I had picked him up and he had been doing wind sprints and thrown up. I worked hard not to make it a big deal. I told him I was sorry he got sick, had him change his clothes, and go brush his teeth. I never told him he should bail from track or that it's a shame he's so out of shape or anything. I told him how proud I am of him for keeping on keeping on.

The thing with kids with cerebral palsy is that they have a really hard time with endurance. Russell is the kid who gets tired at the mall long before anyone else is. Russell is the one who gets out of breath walking around the block. Russell is the one who could not walk half a mile from the bus to get home without collapsing in exhaustion. Russell is the one at free swim who will come out and sit for a while because he gets tired easily.

So this past week, he had his first track meet. I went and was the quintessential sport mom -- I brought fruit, juice, cups, and snacks. His teacher asked me if I wanted to tell him anything -- I said,"If he finishes, I'll buy him dinner."

As I watched him make his way around the marina, where they were running, I saw him alternately walking and running. As he came towards the finish, he absolutely looked like he was going to puke his guts out. And I ran up to him, jogging next to him, I said, "Come on! Beat your old fat mom! I know you can." And he dusted me and as I looked up, probably a dozen kids from him team ran with him to the finish line.

He was the last kid on his team -- not the last kid in the race -- a few others trickled up behind him, but obviously, a wild favorite amongst his teammates and friends. I felt singularly unneeded in some ways and wildly proud of him for having such devoted friends and teammates. And of course, amazed and proud of him for finishing the race.