To Martyne and Faces of Hope Team,

I felt like I didn’t get to thank you adequately in Montreal. You had so many details to organize and we had Miles demanding our attention.

We really had a great week. As you mentioned when you spoke Thursday night at the restaurant, it was a big leap of faith for the families to fly out there. Miles’ medical history makes traveling hard but the addition of his autism makes it incredibly stressful. We had only taken him on an airplane once three years ago and that went badly. It is hard for Miles to be out of his environment. We rarely take him out to eat in restaurants; even visiting friends’ houses is stressful. In spite of that the trip to Montreal was a very positive step for our family. Miles needs to be pushed. His ability to deal with change has improved so much in the last two years. I am so proud of our how our little guy did on the plane, in the airport, in the restaurants, and in the hotel. His behavior is not good by normal standards but is improving so much. I know Miles’ behavior during the photo shoot was a terrible. Celine was so patient and kind, what a gracious lady!

It is mind-blowing to think of all the work you guys did before we even got there. I know the hard word you put in during last weeks’ event was just a fraction. You and your team were so generous and so thoughtful; you made us feel very special. The simple idea of giving us a suitcase to take home all the gifts was extraordinary. We also really appreciated some of the small touches like the penguin at the Bio Dome and the hundreds of balloons at the kids’ party. There is just too much to list. The highlight for Miles was the indoor pool and meeting Ronald McDonald.

After Miles received his new heart I used to wonder how he would feel about it when he grew up. Would he understand how extraordinary he is? That was before the autism diagnosis of course, and now it’s not clear he’ll understand any of it. It is very hard for us as parents but events like yours continue to give us hope, thank you.

It is an honor to be included in this project and to be included with the other Heroes and families. You are doing fantastic work. Not only honoring 12 incredible children but raising money and awareness all over the world is truly something to be proud of.

I would be very pleased if you could forward this email on to all of your team. I only got to thank a few of them in person.

Thanks again for everything,

Adrian Coulson

P.S. I made a short video of pictures for to share with our families.
Here is a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8DPdFNxXPk