In Which Chase Goes Really Fast

I’m not a car person.

Yes, I have had a favorite car in my life, I can recognize an expensive one when I see it, and I did the popular momentary cringe over our first mini van before wholeheartedly embracing the extra space — but I’m not a car person.

Until last week, that is…

For last week I stood on a red carpet and watched line after line of shiny, beautiful, cars I could not identify pull to a stop and load children with cancer into their perfect interiors, revving their engines and taking off with their tiny, precious cargo screaming joyfully – many of whom barely cleared the windowsills to see their route.

And then the organizers were on their radios, talking excitedly that “they were about a minute out” as a line of nearly 30 beautiful cars snaked up the long drive, all with “Ultimate Road Rally” magnets affixed to their doors and many with “We Rally for Sami” on their windshields – an homage to a dear brother, violently gone far too soon.

The rally drivers then joined the other drivers, each taking one child into the passenger seat and the child, eagerly clutching a rally map, helped the drivers earn more points before returning to the drop off. It’s hard to describe the beauty of drivers and organizers setting aside walking devices, helping parents adjust children out of wheelchairs, and then as the children exited the cars, their smiles were huge, their arms were laden with gifts, and I saw softness, joy, and even tears in the eyes of these tough drivers with their breath-taking cars. And how I wish you could see what I saw.

But perhaps my favorite memory of that day was the two brothers in the shiny black…I want to say a Mustang, but like I told you, I’m not a car person…can we just leave it that it was shiny and black and absolutely gorgeous?... Anyway, the two brothers, took two of my darling boy brothers out for a spin, as as they returned, I could see the tops of Aid and Chase’s heads and hear their laughter and joy. No doors opened to exit the boys, but one of their escorts simply stuck his head out the window with a giant grin and said; “They want to go again.” And with that, the car leapt forward with a roar out of the drive and I could hear Aidan laughing and Chase screaming “Go faster! I feel like I’m going to throw up! This is AWESOME!!”

And all those drivers? Well, besides giving my kids one of the best afternoons of their entire lives, they raised $30,000 for Cal’s Angels.

And me? Well, I’ll never see those beautiful cars the same way again. That day changed me a little. Now, even though I still can’t identify what I’m looking at on the outside, I see so much heart on the inside and it blesses me.

“I know Sami would have wanted us to do something special. We couldn’t save his life, but there were lots of kids’ and their families’ lives that we touched.” – Omar Salaymeh, Marketing Consultant at Chicago Motor Cars, Founder of Ultimate Road Rally, and Sami’s dear brother

**With gratitude to Cal’s Angels, Omar Salaymeh, Ultimate Road Rally, Iron Gate Motor Condos, and all the amazing drivers and workers who made this wonderful day possible**