Becky.

I have had countless amazing encounters over the past couple months, but I wanted to tell you just one little story today.

A few weeks ago, while I was still feeling pretty alone and afraid,  I made my very first quad mom contact. This woman thought that she had heard of a quad mom in Michigan, but couldn't remember her name or location. With all that was on my mind I didn't pay much attention to the comment. After all, she didn't even know this woman's name, right?

So the next week I'm sitting in the doctor's office waiting for the doc to come in and my phone vibrates. Since the doc isn't in yet I take a peek and see that I have an email from a woman named Becky who I have never met before. Curious, I open the email and find that she is the very woman my first quad mom friend had told me about. She had taken the time to do some digging to put me in touch with Becky!

As it turns out, not only did my current doctor deliver Becky's beautiful quads two and a half years ago, we attend the same church and she lives only twenty minutes from me. We immediately made plans to meet the next week during the quads afternoon nap. 

When I pulled up to Becky's house, I noticed these right away. For those not well educated in the quad world, I'll tell you what you're looking at. On the left is the Runabout quad stroller, which is a very manueverable and lightweight jogging stroller, great for getting through tight spaces like doorways or aisles, or cutting through crowds. It does not fold down though, so it requires a special hitch-mounted carried on the back of a van. On the right is the Foundations quad stroller. It is much clumsier to maneuver, but it folds down for travel and also fits into elevators, which the Runabout will not. Because of their very different uses, most quad families will need both, unless they can count on both parents being available 100% of the time for doctor's appointments and such, in which case two double strollers could be used. The Runabout alone has a price tag of around $1,500.00 which does not include the hitch.

I hadn't even finished hugging Becky before she told me that both strollers would be mine. She explained to me that both had been gifts to her at a time when she and her husband really needed them, and she wanted to pass them on to our family. I was blown away by her generosity, both in the gift, and of her willingness to sit down and spend her afternoon with a frightened and overwhelmed stranger who really needed a shoulder. I can't express to you how much good that afternoon did me, especially when, at 3pm, four beautiful and healthy babies woke up from their afternoon naps to greet me with sleepy smiles.