Bookends
Today I am grateful for new opportunities and old friends. I am also grateful for laughing together as a family. Sometimes our dog Oliver gets us going, but sometimes it's each other.
Yesterday had a set of bookends that ran to extremes. But the emotional extremes belonged to others. I was more a witness to each bookend than a participant.
The morning started at the Warrior Dash in Afton, MN where my friend Lori and her 3 daughters (who are also my cousins) were participating. Lori married my first cousin Brian, but I've known her almost as long as I've known him. If you aren't familiar with the Warrior Dash, it's a very popular race series around the country. It covers a little over three miles and includes 12 various obstacles/challenges. Lori was a late entry, but she finished alongside one daughter about 20 minutes after the first two came in. They all found the experience exhilirating and the smiles on their faces tell me they will be doing more of this. It was fun to see them and the event.
The evening ended at a prayer service for a 2011 alumnus of the school I work at. He died in a tragic accident on Saturday. I went to be of support and witnessed the grief and camaraderie that such difficult times tend to bring out. The prayer leader made sense of the senseless by emphasizing these 2 points: 1) Today, the present moment is so important. Tell the people you love that you do. We never know how many days we get. 2) Stick together. Be there to support one another through this. And somehow, we keep the faith. (Her words were more eloquent than my summation of them.)
Obstacles on a hot and humid race course. Grief-stricken young people in shock over a life cut far too short. Bookends. Reminders to be grateful for what I have today, including the obstacles, because they tend to teach me the most. But most grateful for the people I love and who love me.
Yesterday had a set of bookends that ran to extremes. But the emotional extremes belonged to others. I was more a witness to each bookend than a participant.
The morning started at the Warrior Dash in Afton, MN where my friend Lori and her 3 daughters (who are also my cousins) were participating. Lori married my first cousin Brian, but I've known her almost as long as I've known him. If you aren't familiar with the Warrior Dash, it's a very popular race series around the country. It covers a little over three miles and includes 12 various obstacles/challenges. Lori was a late entry, but she finished alongside one daughter about 20 minutes after the first two came in. They all found the experience exhilirating and the smiles on their faces tell me they will be doing more of this. It was fun to see them and the event.
The evening ended at a prayer service for a 2011 alumnus of the school I work at. He died in a tragic accident on Saturday. I went to be of support and witnessed the grief and camaraderie that such difficult times tend to bring out. The prayer leader made sense of the senseless by emphasizing these 2 points: 1) Today, the present moment is so important. Tell the people you love that you do. We never know how many days we get. 2) Stick together. Be there to support one another through this. And somehow, we keep the faith. (Her words were more eloquent than my summation of them.)
Obstacles on a hot and humid race course. Grief-stricken young people in shock over a life cut far too short. Bookends. Reminders to be grateful for what I have today, including the obstacles, because they tend to teach me the most. But most grateful for the people I love and who love me.
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