Tutus in Central Park.

The title of this post says it all.

I will be wearing a tutu in Central Park while participating in the BlogHer 5k in August on my first ever visit to New York City for the BlogHer ’10 conference.

It’s all part of Tutus for Tanner, a group put together in honor of Her Bad Mother‘s nephew Tanner, who is living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.   Not to be grim and without going into too much detail, there is no happy ending to this condition, most unfortunately.

For me, that hits closer to home.  I have mentioned my co-worker and friend, A, from time to time on this blog.  Like me, she and her husband are Midwestern transplants to Colorado.  And like me, she has struck up friendships with people who have become her Colorado family.

One such friendship is with a single mom (M) and her son (Z).  Z and A’s older son were in the same classroom early on in elementary school, before Z became confined to a wheelchair because of Duchenne’s.  Since then, M and Z have become part of A’s family’s birthday celebrations.  There is always room at the table at holiday dinners, too.

I am always struck by M’s determination to get the best care for her son, and for her strong advocacy for disability rights.   So for her, and for Z, as well as for Tanner, I will make a statement walking (or maybe even running?) through Central Park in a tutu.