A Special Wedding

We had the great honor to attend a very special wedding this weekend. Emily, founder of the BYC Spirit special needs cheerleading squad, got married.

Emily founded the Spirit squad while she was still in high school, and Julia was one of the original members.

BYC Spirit with the Happy Couple

The Spirit squad was, and still is, an amazing thing. Kids with all sorts of disabilities get to be part of a cheer squad, have very nice uniforms, practice every week, and attend 5 or 6 weekend cheer events over the course of a school year.

Grace and Bella

They generally open the competitions with their routine, get big trophies and standing ovations wherever they go, and serve as an opportunity for these kids to be special. In the good way. As I have written before, the reception the Spirit squad gets everywhere they go is amazing, and never fails to bring a tear to my eye.

Kings Mill, Aston PA

Emily graduated high school, went of to college, and never missed a beat with the Spirit squad. She comes back for practices, and still runs the whole thing. Designs the routines. Organizes the volunteers. Runs practices. Runs fundraisers. Schedules competition appearances. Goes to the competitions.

As I told her Dad at the wedding, Emily has done more in her young life to help others and have a true impact on their lives than most people have in their whole lives.

The wedding itself was wonderful, on a hot day in June. It was at the King's Mill renovated old mill building on 452 in Aston, along the creek. The facilities were very nice (and I loved the old building). The wedding was outside, and then we headed in for the reception as it started to drizzle.

The importance of the Spirit squad as a thing in Emily's life was apparent. Maybe a third of all attendees were past and present Spirit squad members and their families (including us). As befit the occasion, there was music and dancing, food and drink, and a good time was had by all.

It was an honor to celebrate the big day of someone who has had such an impact on Julia's (and our) life.

Footnote: Julia stopped doing Spirit a year ago, but Grace continues on as a helper coach volunteer. Grace helped out in Julia's last couple of years, and when Julia stopped doing it Grace surprised us a little bit by saying that she wanted to continue. So for one practice a week during the school year, and 5 or 6 weekend competitions, Grace goes and is the helper-buddy of a few of the littler ones.