Tag: Saturday Mornings

Saturday Morning Gifts

This morning I received a gift. Or maybe several gifts. My son and daughter-in-law were in town for the weekend and I got to make a big waffle breakfast with my daughter-in-law and then see my big dining room table surrounded by cheerful children all chatting and teasing and laughing with each other. Then I announced I was going to take a walk and my youngest asked if he could go with me.

He is now nine years old and it has been several years since he has thought that taking a walk with mom was a treat.

We took off down the sidewalk and he reached over and grabbed my hand, twining his fingers with mine. I felt a little bit like a wildlife photographer. Hold really still and try not to startle them or scare them away! The day was gray, it had just stopped drizzling. The sidewalk was wet and slick, the light subdued. But it felt like a joyful, bright, cheerful moment as I walked hand in hand with my not-so-little boy.

Neither of us were in a very talkative mood, but he would make observations every once in a while, pulling me over closer to the side of the road so he could balance on the curb as he walked.

My youngest is nine years old. I have had four children leave home and take off into the world already and the next one in line graduates high school this spring and heads to college in the fall. Andy and I are very conscious that our season of full-time parenting is going to end in a relatively short amount of time.

And so, for a tiny moment, I felt very clearly how precious this was, to have one more walk with my baby while he still wanted to hold my hand.

My oldest son sat at my dining room table this morning, with his wife by his side and informed all his younger siblings that when he was young he had been the perfect child. Of course, all of his siblings who were similar in age to him and could testify the truth or lie of this statement were not there, but his young siblings still looked at him with strong skepticism. Then someone said, ASK MOM! She’ll tell you! My son looked me straight in the face without batting an eyelash, waiting for me to confirm his story. I shrugged and said, Sure. Which, I have to tell you is so far from the truth it’s very funny. But I backed him up and he was able to gloat in his supposed superiority while the kids continued to express skepticism. And I love that. I love that its been a long enough time that we can move on from all the ups and downs of me raising my first son while I had no idea what I was doing, and we can be settled in the fact that we love each other and enjoy each other’s company.

I have wonderful memories of my oldest son as a young child, his zest for life, his amazing creativity. But I can’t remember the last walk we took where he still wanted to hold my hand. I don’t think I can remember that for any of my other children. So, I received a gift today. A heavenly tap on my shoulder. Hey, pay attention. This is a special moment. Savor it. Remember it. Write it down. One of life’s great joys, tucked away into a normal Saturday morning.

Fat Fridays: One Day Late

I’m a day late, but today was THE DAY and I wanted to wait so I could tell you about it. 

I ran my first 5k today!! 

In the rain. In December. 

The name of the race was the Sunshine Santa 5k hosted by Endurance Sports Management. It was a fundraiser to support the Sunshine Ambassadors Program whose tagline is “Enriching the Lives of Individuals with Disabilities through Dance”. There was also a half marathon being run at the same time. 

Four hundred people signed up for the race though I don’t think that many actually showed up. It was fun to see people of all ages and fitness levels coming together to run, walk, and just be active together on a rainy Saturday morning. 

My husband and one of my daughters came along to cheer me on. I was very thankful for my husband’s tips as I tried to figure out how to dress for a run in cold rain. The life-saving tip was to wear a ball cap so the rain wouldn’t get on my glasses. I never would have thought of that. Thanks sweetie! 

In order to keep myself moving I always have some song running in my head. Today’s music was “Jingle Bells”, a little chant that included the phrase “I can do this, I can do this.” And the final song for the last mile was “The Ants go Marching One by One” which is actually a perfect song for me to get my breathing under control. 🙂 

My trainer told me, ahead of time, that on the second mile I should actively look for people to try and pass in order to keep myself moving. So, there was this lady in an aqua blue jacket and she was doing a combination of running and walking. I would pass her while she was walking and then almost right after I passed her she would start running again and pass me again, get just far enough ahead of me and then start walking again. Then I would pass her again and we would repeat the whole thing. In the final mile I was sure that she would pass me up since her running pace was a lot faster than mine, but almost the whole last mile was uphill and while she started walking, I kept running. And she didn’t pass me again. And that was my major victory for the run. 🙂 

I had fun. It’s a lot easier to run with other people than being solo. I had two goals. To do the whole race without stopping to walk, and to try and do it in 36 minutes. I did it in 37 mins and 19 secs. So, I still haven’t met that goal. But I feel good. My average running time had been 40 minutes for three miles, so I’ve brought it down some. I think I’m going to have to sign up for another run.

Well, I’m super happy. I’ll stop going on about the race and let you all get on with your day. Talk to you next week!