I recently
moved, again. The 4th time in
11 years. No, I don’t have a sadistic
streak, I get no pleasure from the stress of packing up years of accumulated
cruft, selling a house, buying a house, and moving to a new area where I have
to establish new friends and doctors.
So it’s not that I enjoy moving, my life just seems to have taken a path
that makes me a bit of a nomad. Despite
the challenges, each move has brought new joys, friends, and experiences, and
brought me closer to my children and grandchildren.
My running
has mirrored that path, each move bringing me new experiences and friends. Even more important to me, it has allowed
shared experiences with my family. This
morning for instance I went for a run with my twin grandsons. They are now in high school and are
accomplished runners but they were kind enough to slow down to match my “old
person pace”….a bit of a mercy run. Over
the course of more than an hour they listened patiently to my stories of the
old days of my running and the Boston Marathon. As most of us older people know, reminiscing
about the old days is just what we do.
It was a shared experience that I wouldn’t have had without moving to be
close to them. It makes all the pain of
moving worthwhile.
As we embark
on another year of Marathon Challenge to help children with cancer and their
families, I remind myself that much like a move, the benefits far exceed the
work.
No comments:
Post a Comment