Today was an odd day of sorts. 24 years ago on this day my father passed away from brain cancer. It was one of the most challenging things that I've ever gone through. Over the course of nine months I watched my dad, who was this tall, strong, fearless guy wither away to almost nothingness. In the end his mind and body were a mere shadow of the amazing man that he was. It was a point in my life that would define the person that I am today. That single event took me on the longest journey. Luckily with a little help I climbed my way out of nastier sections and eventually decided to honor the man that was my father by following in the family business of law enforcement. I proudly wear his badge number today.
As children we look to our parents as the ideal type of people that we should strive to be when we grow up. But as we get older we begin to notice that our parents aren't perfect. Even they have their faults. My dad had his demons and was far from a saint. But I choose a long time ago to forgive the faults and embrace the man that he was.
I've never admitted this to anyone, but one of the reasons that I took up long distance running was because, when compared to dying of brain cancer, running a marathon is a piece of cake. The man had the stamina to last nine months of drugs, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. If he could do that, then I could last 26.2 miles in a foot race. I dedicated my first race to him and his tenacity.
Through the years after his passing I've done many different things on this day. I've wallowed in grief that he wasn't still here, toasted him one too many at his favorite bar and spent the day fishing like we used to when I was young. Today my son ran a mile long race with his classmates for school. Since being out sick from work I've really enjoyed the extra time with him. Gone are the pressures of time, training and work. I've become a bus driver some days, a school teacher on others and a tutor on our patio. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity to spend this morning with him as a volunteer on the course.
The race was run at a local park called North Ponds. We actually used to live in a set of apartments that backed up to it. It's a beautiful park that has a one mile paved trail that encompasses two gigantic ponds. In my opinion it's one of the nicest places to walk or run. Especially during the Fall. When the leaves are at their peak, it's just breathtaking.
Woke up early to get my PT exercises in, got the little guy on the bus and headed over to the park. I showed up on time and found out where I was supposed to be stationed. It was really nice to see so many volunteers there as well as the local Fleet Feet running the finish line. Very organized other than where to initially meet up with your school's gym teachers.
It was a beautiful Fall day and while chatting with a neighbor who's daughter was also running, the buses started arriving. It wasn't just my son's fourth grade class, but all the district's fourth grades running the race. Lots of kids everywhere!
Up until today it seemed like the second round of spinal injections had really helped ease some of the inflammation on the pinched nerve. But standing for two hours cheering all the kids on was rough. I gritted through it and got to see him run on by. He was all business, but I did at least get a smile and a wave. Watching him and so many other kids pushing themselves today made me smile. What incredible effort!
Caught up with him at the finish line. What a man he's growing into. He's already so tall, probably going to be as tall as his grandfather was. It seems like overnight he went from this tiny little bean to almost a teenager in size. It's been amazing watching him become what he is today. I tried not to embarrass him too much in front of his friends and left a short time later.
I would've loved the opportunity to run with him today. But today just wasn't my day. There will be other races with him. Standing in the bright sunlight I watched him as he turned the corner near where I was stationed. If you squinted hard enough you could almost see a really tall man with an old Irish cap running alongside him.
Sometimes it's worth it to sit out a race. Miss you pop. Thanks for running with him today...
As children we look to our parents as the ideal type of people that we should strive to be when we grow up. But as we get older we begin to notice that our parents aren't perfect. Even they have their faults. My dad had his demons and was far from a saint. But I choose a long time ago to forgive the faults and embrace the man that he was.
I've never admitted this to anyone, but one of the reasons that I took up long distance running was because, when compared to dying of brain cancer, running a marathon is a piece of cake. The man had the stamina to last nine months of drugs, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. If he could do that, then I could last 26.2 miles in a foot race. I dedicated my first race to him and his tenacity.
Through the years after his passing I've done many different things on this day. I've wallowed in grief that he wasn't still here, toasted him one too many at his favorite bar and spent the day fishing like we used to when I was young. Today my son ran a mile long race with his classmates for school. Since being out sick from work I've really enjoyed the extra time with him. Gone are the pressures of time, training and work. I've become a bus driver some days, a school teacher on others and a tutor on our patio. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity to spend this morning with him as a volunteer on the course.
The race was run at a local park called North Ponds. We actually used to live in a set of apartments that backed up to it. It's a beautiful park that has a one mile paved trail that encompasses two gigantic ponds. In my opinion it's one of the nicest places to walk or run. Especially during the Fall. When the leaves are at their peak, it's just breathtaking.
Woke up early to get my PT exercises in, got the little guy on the bus and headed over to the park. I showed up on time and found out where I was supposed to be stationed. It was really nice to see so many volunteers there as well as the local Fleet Feet running the finish line. Very organized other than where to initially meet up with your school's gym teachers.
It was a beautiful Fall day and while chatting with a neighbor who's daughter was also running, the buses started arriving. It wasn't just my son's fourth grade class, but all the district's fourth grades running the race. Lots of kids everywhere!
Up until today it seemed like the second round of spinal injections had really helped ease some of the inflammation on the pinched nerve. But standing for two hours cheering all the kids on was rough. I gritted through it and got to see him run on by. He was all business, but I did at least get a smile and a wave. Watching him and so many other kids pushing themselves today made me smile. What incredible effort!
Caught up with him at the finish line. What a man he's growing into. He's already so tall, probably going to be as tall as his grandfather was. It seems like overnight he went from this tiny little bean to almost a teenager in size. It's been amazing watching him become what he is today. I tried not to embarrass him too much in front of his friends and left a short time later.
I would've loved the opportunity to run with him today. But today just wasn't my day. There will be other races with him. Standing in the bright sunlight I watched him as he turned the corner near where I was stationed. If you squinted hard enough you could almost see a really tall man with an old Irish cap running alongside him.
Sometimes it's worth it to sit out a race. Miss you pop. Thanks for running with him today...
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