Bless his little heart he even nibbled up a last crumb from his biscuit as he soaked up the attention. His soft coat was white, black, grey, and tan. Cute as a bug's ear. After his time of TLC in our department he went on to the Emergency Room to visit someone in need and then headed home for the day. I suspect he bragged a bit about his hard day at work when he got home to his brother and sister.
In two weeks many of my friends, co-workers, and women of Kansas City will be participating in the Susan G. Koman run for a cure. Breast cancer took my mother's life, so this event holds a special place in heart. I will be running in honor of her.
The piece de resistance was the hole in the sock over her right big toe.
Some of the young men dressed in their finest suits, while the gals wore dresses. Everyone had a great time dancing and enjoying refreshments. No doubt Dani hovered like a humming bird around the refreshment table. 
I don't know if this was a late case of spring fever or what, but it was a pleasant surprise just the same.
When your child cannot speak or communicate fluently, as with our daughter Dani who is deaf and Autistic, you learn to capitalize on the few clues she offers. Like most parents we watch for subtle cues that signal how she feels and uses them to learn her likes and dislikes.
Reality is for People with No Imagination, the sign read as I entered my chiropractor's restroom. Snickering at the correlating picture of a Dalmatian dressed in a George Washington suit, the cleaver quip sent me thinking that perhaps this is why reality can be so painful. It's the pin that pops a fanciful dream, sending it plummeting to the ground. "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.
On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
No longer will there be any curse.
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city,
and his servants will serve him."
Revelation 22:1-3
What fun it was to celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary. Last night we went to a dinner theater and saw John Davidson, the handsome guy from Hollywood Squares, in Becky's New Car.
"Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
Genesis 1:26-27
"Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
Revelation 5:13
A good book is hard to find and I don't know about you, but if it doesn't grab me on the first sentence, my desire to finish is seriously threatened. That, however, was not the case with Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This true story of two polar opposite men forging an unlikely but precious friendship was so touching I didn't want it to end. Not only was it a fast read, but nearly impossible to put down, especially toward the end. I giggled my socks off at certain points and cried uncontrollably in others. Not far into the book it became apparent I had to watch when and where I read it, since my emotions would whisk me off to who knows where every single time. I quickly learned it was best read alone and in private. When I finally finished reading this little gem I handed it off to Jimmy and said, "That's the best book I've ever read. Enjoy!" He smiled, not so surprised after seeing me, the book and a box of Kleenex having become a tidy trio.
Friday afternoon, when Dani came home from her Adult Day Hab program, she promptly took her backpack to her room and commenced fishing around in it as if on a hunt for a special prize. I didn't think much about it as I began to settle in for a nice relaxing weekend. According to Life123 a marathon is one long road race totaling 26.2 miles. The marathon originated when an ancient Greek soldier, Pheidippides, ran from Marathon to Athens to relay the message that the Persian army had been defeated. As legend has it, once the words “We have won” came out of his mouth, he dropped dead on the spot. This fable prompted the first Olympic marathon, which totaled 24.8 miles, the distance Pheidippides ran.
In 1908 the marathon distance was changed to 26.2 miles when King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria wanted the royal family to see the beginning of the race. The course was changed to begin at Windsor Castle and end at a racetrack, thus changing the distance to the now standard 26.2 miles.
Beyond the marathon there is the ultra-marathon, which can be 30, 50, or 100 miles, the half marathon (about 13 miles), and last but not least the 5K, a race for folks like me who want to get in shape without dropping dead like Pheidippides.
I ran my first 5K about 10 years ago in a run for Autism, then proceeded to let running slide as life got busy with our little Dani who suffers from the disability. A few months ago, after turning 50 and hearing my cholesterol was too high, I kicked back into gear and began training again. I had four weeks to get into shape for this race and believe it or not…I did it!
Today’s run was for a family who has three terminally ill children and it was heart-warming to stand amidst hundreds of people at the starting line to pray, sing the National Anthem, and then run as one body in unison for one cause. There were men, women, kids, parents pushing strollers, and dogs all along the way. One little pooch was zig zagging in front of me making me giggle as I seriously tried to run. He seems to want to run along side me, which would have been fine if he’d have ran in a straight line. (You might recall Cocoa Bean got kicked off my running schedule for the same wavering offence.) Another doggy had to make a pit stop along the way bless his heart. His owner patiently waited as his fury friend made a deposit in the grass. As we ran by I said to the man, “I’m glad that isn’t you doing your business roadside.” We all chuckled and continued on our journey. I usually run alone so it was fun to have folks to wave and talk to along the way.
At one point I took a quick glance at my stopwatch and was happy to see the end had to be near. A few paces further and I saw the bright colored balloon arch over the road where we had begun the race and felt a jolt of energy pulse through my body. It was downhill the rest of the way and Coldplay was playing strong in my ears. I turned my music up a notch and commenced running past the runners I’d followed from the beginning. Once past the “finish line” I heard the announcer on a bullhorn say, “5K runners you’re not done. Keep going up the hill, turn right, run around the chair and come back. Then you’ll be done!”
Now, I gotta tell you I’d given it all I had by that point and the thought of conquering another hill was beyond discouraging, but I had no choice. I had to finish the race and the only way I could do that was to change my mindset and move forward, even if it involved another hill.
I equate running hills to eating elephants, one bite at a time. As I approach an incline, instead of dreading it I envision each step as a bite into the hill. Before I know it I’m up and on my way, happy to have eaten another elephant.
After finding the chair that I’d rather have sat in than run around, I trotted back down the hill and crossed the finish line, AGAIN. Folks were cheering and Jimmy was taking pictures of his ole bride. My attention, however, was drawn elsewhere. Out of the entire crowd all I could see was my little Dani patiently leaning against a tree waiting for her mama to arrive. Just the site of her was so precious it brought a smile to my face. Beaming from ear to ear, I took a beeline straight to her and planted a big kiss on her forehead. Bless her heart for all she knows I ran to someone’s house, grabbed a cookie, visited for ½ an hour and ran back. She has no idea the hard work it takes to run these bones down the road, but she and her daddy waited in the cold rain to cheered me on and for that I am most grateful.
Crossing the finish line the second time super pooped.
Now I need another goal. What might be my next 5K (cholesterol) run? I have something in mind and I'll give you a hint. It involves some very big elephants.
