Brennan's Rabid Squirrel Squad

Rabid Squirrel

A few years ago we met Rabid Squirrel and he's become a mascot for us.  I mean who would mess with a rabid squirrel?  He was one of the many taxidermy animals in a cabin we stayed in with some friends one summer.  It was one of those magical summers where kids ran around in the rain (hey, we live in Phoenix, so rain is a very big deal to us).  Our trip included standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, driving by the WigWam Motel and wishing we'd planned ahead so we could stay in one of their teepee rooms, and buying rocks we didn't need near a really large green dinosaur statue.  Like I said, a magical summer.

So, when we needed to come up with a name last year for our walk team for the Epilepsy Foundation of Arizona's Phoenix Walk, we knew we wanted to use the Rabid Squirrel in the name - a reminder of all things good with a sprinkling of serious rabidness.  Last year the theme of the walk was movies and Brennan had just been in the play A Few Good Men (the movie was based on the play). We called our team "You Can't Handle the Squirrel!"  

This year we are calling our team Brennan's Rabid Squirrel Squad.  The Squirrel Squad is for any one who wants to support Brennan by supporting the Epilepsy Foundation of Arizona which has supported us in so many ways:

• Camp Candlelight - A one week summer camp for kids with epilepsy.  I can't say enough good things about this camp.  It has been a nice break for Brennan, and a learning experience for all of us.  Brennan's last year as a camper was this past summer.  We're hoping he can be a Counselor in Training next summer.  
• Epilepsy Empowerment Group - A once a month meeting for people with epilepsy and their family or support system.  We laugh, we cry, we eat yummy pastries from a Polynesian recipe, and we are always leave feeling not so alone in this crazy world of seizures.  
• Friends - We have met so many amazing people through the Epilepsy Foundation!  On occasion the foundation has asked one of us to call a family who has a child newly diagnosed.  From those phone calls I've gotten to meet some pretty remarkable people.  Other people we've met through the Empowerment Group, and others from the years of Camp Candlelight.  Having other parents to talk to and seeing our son talk to other people with epilepsy has been such a blessing.  
• Kids Speak Up! - I know it's been a few years since Brennan and I went to Washington D.C. to help lobby on Capitol Hill, but the memories still make me smile.    

Anyone who can walk with us on November 16, please join the team Brennan's Rabid Squirrel Squad. If you just want to donate, we'd appreciate that as well.  You too can be part of a bad-ass group of Rabid Squirrel type people that will look epilepsy square in the eyes, with just a little froth around your mouth, and tell it that you are going to do everything you can to let seizures know that they aren't the boss of us!