Happy New Year from the Markham Family!

Happy New Year!!

January 8th is officially the first day of the year, right? I'm pretty sure all the other days from December 26th to January 7th are just used for recovery from another tremendous year - at least that's the story I'm sticking to ;)

Our family has been doing digital-only annual family newsletters since 2019 and we're not stopping now (even if we are a couple weeks late into the new year) so without further ado, let's *briefly* catch you up on all the sides of the Markham family in 2023!

Brock

Brock continues to love his work as a theme park stunt performer at Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood - Damian and I love to visit him at his "office" when we can! In addition to his normal stunt work, he occasionally books film/tv and modeling gigs.

One memorable job in 2023 was modeling for a special effects makeup demonstration in which he was transformed into the Terminator! Any time when Brock can feel like Arnold Schwarzenegger is a great time for him.

Brock remains invariably disciplined to his early morning workouts and is proud to have put on quite a bit of weight in 2023 as a result of his hard work. While he didn't do any bodybuilding shows last year, he plans to compete again towards the end of 2024.

Brittany 

It's hard to separate me and Damian (we're glued at the hip most of the time), but I'll try for this little update! I still work part-time from home for a company that designs theme parks and other fun themed experiences, and I've been ecstatic to transition from my previous managerial role to a designer.

My biggest role, of course, is being mother to the sweetest little love in the whole world. Like I said, Damian and I are hardly ever apart, and we keep a busy schedule! At any given moment, we are either in therapy, at the hospital for an infusion or doctor's appointment, getting groceries, or at home doing Damian's exercises or working on a project for Damian's campaign.

I'm often asked what I do for self-care and while there is room for improvement in that area, I really do look forward to our occasional trips to Disneyland as a family. It means a lot to me that we have the ability to go (I'll never let Brock quit! haha) and I treasure each trip we're able to make together.

Damian (Age 4) 

Regardless of our nonstop schedule and the frequent pokes and prods from needles and doctors' fingers, Damian incredibly maintains the same happy, patient, optimistic attitude he has had since he was born. He still loves music and he loves to be read to. He loves to swing. He loves to see Daddy when he comes home from work and kicks and squeals excitedly when he hears Brock come through the door. His preference is to be held by me every day, all day like a baby koala. He is truly the light of our family.

Damian is on 2 treatments now for his rare disease, Acid Sphingomyelinase Deficiency (ASMD) and we are continuing to fight for a third to ultimately save Damian's life. For the sake of keeping this newsletter short, I'll save the details of Damian's current health condition for an upcoming post. I will say though, that every time I feel overwhelmed or frightened, Damian has a way of giving me this particular look, as if to say, "I was always meant to tackle this challenge - don't worry, I've got this." There is so much wisdom and strength behind those sparkling blue eyes and I'm constantly amazed and humbled by him.

His continuous positivity and encouraging energy fuels me with hope that we can reverse the effects of ASMD on his weakening body. While this road of raising funds for medical studies and treatment development is becoming an all-consuming marathon, we have been blessed and amazed to see incredible progress this year.

Big Moments of 2023

• February: We reached our $1 MILLION dollar milestone!

• March: Damian got a G-Tube (surgically-placed feeding tube)

• May: Damian turned 4!

• July: We marched in our city's Independence Day parade!

• August: We passed out over 2,000 bracelets with information about our campaign at the Taylor Swift Eras Tour in Los Angeles!

• October: We turned our garage into a walkthrough attraction and called it "Damian's Not-So-Haunted House!"

• November: We went to Arizona for the Wylder Nation Foundation* gala, which I spoke at briefly (check out our vlog to see my speech and an extra surprise!) *the Wylder Nation Foundation is our campaign's beneficiary - they are the ones developing the treatment

• December: We shared Damian's story over 200,000 times on Instagram during a campaign we called "Damian's 12 Days of Sharing!"

To all of you who have shown us incredible love and support this year, thank you so much. We are so grateful for everyone who has joined in with us on this journey. With incredible gratitude for how far we've come and with faith in God's plan and His timing, I am confident that the best is yet to come.

Love,

The Markham's