Marin's Page

Welcome to Marin's CaringBridge web page. It is provided to keep family and friends. Our address and phone number are as follows:

Marin Morrison
230 239th Way SE
Sammamish, WA 98074

#(425)657-0041
Nancy cel: 678-908-6941
updated.



Marin was diagnosed with a brain tumor
on Wednesday, February 23, 2005. She underwent resection surgeries on March 4th and March 5th, and again on August 15th, 2005. Marin underwent a fourth brain operation on May 2nd, 2008.

Please pray often for:
- Marin to heal and recover
- God's peace with Marin and her family

Please sign the website's guestbook while visiting.




THANK YOU to our friends and neighbors and everyone who contributed to the fundraising effort to help our family make the trip to Beijing. We are humbled and appreciative to know there are so many wonderful people sharing this experience with us. ~ The Morrison Family
http://morrisonolympicfund.kintera.org

Journal

Wednesday, October 8, 2008 3:09 PM CDT

We had an amazing whirlwind trip to Washington, DC and once again, Marin shined in her moment. Traveling Monday from Seattle, through Denver, and in to DC that afternoon, she was uncomfortable from sitting on the airplane and rather tired from the early wake-up call, but altogether she travelled well and she was excited about the visit next day. While most of the Olympic and Paralympic team members flew in to Baltimore and were bussed to the ceremony in the morning, the USOC put us up in a hotel within walking distance of the White House, and after a good night's sleep and a great breakfast, we walked down the street to the event with a small contingent of athletes and officials.

On a bright, clear morning, the gathering of hundreds of USA athletes was incredibly impressive. The women were all in matching t-shirts with navy blue wind breakers, the men in red, with the USA Olympic team insignia and everyone was enjoying the company of each other. There were lots of smiles and a little bit of star-gazing. Everyone was excited to be among the company of elite athletes, and then some of the more recognizable Olympic stars were signing autographs and such. Of course everyone was on the Michael Phelps watch, and he did participate in the ceremony, but he was whisked in by handlers and his agent just before the ceremony was about to begin so he wasn't mingling with everyone beforehand. Afterward he did spend a lot of time taking pictures with all the other athletes, mostly women I noticed, and signing autographs. We did come across him during the tour of the White House that followed, but we didn't get close enough to snap a picture with him and Marin. Unfortunately, Marin's favorite Aaron Piersol was unable to make the event and we didn't see her friend Kathleen Hersey; we don't think she was there either. We did say hello to, and take pictures with, lots of other notable people, including gold medal winners Ryan Lochte from the men's swim team and Shaun Johnson from the gymnastics team. It wasn't until we returned home and we watched the home video I took that Cammie pointed out that the cute young woman who walked down the street from the hotel with us, with whom we chatted about a number of things including the Beijing experience, turned out to be star gymnist Nastia Liuken. Who knew?! Nancy took a nice picture with exercise guru Denise Austin, a board member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, and Nancy was the best fitness trainer in that photo, I assure you. It was really nice to see so many members of the Paralympic swim team one more time and in such a neat setting; we had brief but nice visits with Aimee B., Elizabeth S., Miranda U., Cheryl A., Kendall B., Curtis L., Joe M., Rudy G. and coach Jimi. It was a very special day indeed.

President Bush delivered a nice speech, introducing the athletes as the "the greatest Olympic and Paralympic team ever assembled". We're incredibly proud that Marin had her place front and center in this historic setting. And literally, she was front and center. Thanks to a tip from Aimee (who's posed for these White House photo ops before), we stategically waited for the proper moment to wheel Marin to the front and center of the gathering. She was seated in the front row in the middle, about ten feet in front of the President's lectern and a little to his left. Any photos of the entire gathering shows Marin among the athletes surrounding the President. That worked out pretty good. We've updated our photo page here to include three pictures from the event and it shows Marin's rather excellent position for the ceremony. Check it out on the photo page.

After the ceremony, we mingled for a time taking pictures and visiting. Our friend Connie Bailey, another Paralympic parent, snapped an awesome photo of Kendall with his arm around President Bush. It was priceless! We then went on a tour of the White House (main floor only) where we were allowed to take pictures and video (not usually the norm). We also saw Michael Phelps again but couldn't quite manage to catch him for a good photo with Marin. Oh well. When we were done touring and saying our goodbyes, we went back up the street to the hotel, checked out, went to the airport and flew home. Once again, Marin travelled very well and we were back in Seattle in time to put Michael to bed. We owe a big debt of gratitude to our good friend and neighbor Valerie G. for looking after Cammie & Michael while we were gone. This allowed us to make the trip and it turned out to be an incredible 36 hours. We'll include the White House photos on our shutterfly link:

http://morrisonfamilyphoto.shutterfly.com/

Also, here's the latest terrific news story on her trip to Beijing by Eric Johnson at KOMO-4 news:

http://www.komonews.com/home/video/29880429.html?video=pop&t=a

On now to whatever's next. We're looking forward to the NBC Paralympic special which we're told now is coming up the second week in November. And of course before that is Halloween. We focus on short-range goals to help Marin get through the tough days and it always seems to help. She tends to rise to the occasion. We live for the good moments in each day. And we thank you all for sharing this journey with us.

Until next time,

Marin & Nancy, Matt, Camlyn & Michael

Hospital Information:

Our new address in Washington is:
230 239th Way SE
Sammamish, WA 98074
(425)657-0041

Links:

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