When I finished the Marathon in January, our family hopped a plane back to “real life” – back to New Jersey, back to work, and school. The words my Erin expressed at the finish line, “I’d like to run a marathon someday…” blew off into the Florida breeze…or so I thought!
No, it was not a whimsical musing, not a spur of the moment wish. The reality is – Erin has been a dedicated little runner – doing the Couch-to-5K program, and she has 2 runs left to do before she is finished. She’s not quite up to a 5k yet – she is running @4.5 mph – but she is running 30 mins steadily…and I am smiling from ear to ear.…just as steadily! Her progress is Fan-Tas-Tic!
Back in late January – before she could run anything more than 5 minutes non-stop – I asked her…”Hey Erin, do you want to run the Disneyland 10K with me at the end of summer?” Once she heard that she would earn a medal – she was IN. In like Flynn, as my mom would say. LOL, I had to laugh to myself, because this believing stuff…it’s all the same for everybody. My teenage beauty…committed to running 6 miles about 8 months in the future from that point – and she had never run EVER in her life. But what she learned…from watching her mom…was that believing + hard work == ACHIEVEMENT! Doesn’t matter how fat you are, or aren’t. Doesn’t matter how lazy you are, or aren’t. Doesn’t matter if you think you are Lame-O, or not. (One of Erin’s favorite phrases). Believing + hard work == ACHIEVEMENT. Yea! Now THAT’s some math we can all wrap our minds around!
On August 31st, my girl and I are running the Disneyland 10K together. It’s that last part that creates a lump in my throat. T-O-G-E-T-H-E-R! I don’t know if you have any teenagers, especially the elusive breed called “teenage daughters”….but they RARELY want to do anything t-o-g-e-t-h-e-r with their parents. Heck, they’d like to live life pretending they don’t HAVE parents – um, until they need some $$.
But, yea….my little teenage beauty is excited to be running a 10K with her mom. Lump in throat again. She jokes that she is going to leave me in the dust. “I’m gonna blow you away mom” (followed by ridiculously funny laughter from the both of us.) Yes Erin. Yes you are little gazelle. And I’ll be cheering you on every..single..step as I watch you fly. And if it proves to be harder than you expect….no worries….we ARE crossing that finish line. You And Me.
T-O-G-E-T-H-E-R!
It’s amazing. The gifts from running…keep coming.
Do parents call their kids their pride and joy anymore? I don’t hear it much. exhausting. aggravating. annoying. demanding. These are the words I hear more often than not. It’s sad. My parents used to call us (my brothers and sisters and I)….their pride and joy. And so, the habit of delivering that message is something I ensure my daughters receive from me, as often as possible. Caitlin, Erin…you ARE my pride and joy.
Oh…don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t a perfect kid. LOL, far from it. Most of my childhood…I was dirty, and noisy, and broke stuff. Stuff that my parents valued, A LOT. But in the end…..they raised me to be honest, and compassionate, and to have manners. They raised me….to be their pride and joy. So when they were in the last years of the golden sunset of their lives….they could rest easy knowing….they had given the world what they had treasured the most. They gave the world their pride and joy. Everything else….was nothing. Just dust in the wind.
So today, April 1st, begins my training…..and I will spend this spring and summer……preparing for a run…..that doesn’t matter at all. This run….this 10K……is simple a vehicle. It’s a tool, a device…..one that will enable me to spend time with my pride and joy. Lump in my throat and warmth in my heart.
I hope it is the longest…..and most enjoyable 6 miles of my Life! Because I will remember this year f-o-r-e-v-e-r!
Ciao for now…..Diane
(ps – Dumbo Double Dare ya to guess….haha….yea, there’s more of a challenge to this story! Let’s chat tomorrow.)