It has been 33 days since the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Half Marathon.
I really did intend to write my post-race day blog before today. But with a birthday in the family every 6 days in December, then Christmas, then New Year’s…life happens.
However, since the first blog entry announcing my intention to run the half marathon was written on the 10th anniversary of Nick’s death, it seems fitting that my last blog entry is being written today, on the 26th anniversary of Nick’s birth.
First let me say this about the race…I set my original fundraising goal at $2,500. If you have been following this blog you will know that I had to keep increasing that goal because of the generosity of so many of you.
Donations came in from my kids, my siblings, my in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, 2nd cousins, and cousins-in-law.
Old family friends from my childhood;
friends from the church I grew up in, the church I used to attend, and the church I go to now;
friends from childhood and the children of my friends from childhood;
friends from junior high, senior high, and marching band days.
St. Jude social workers, volunteer coordinators, doctors, and psychologists.
Co-workers past and present, corporations, and complete strangers.
Because of all of you, together we raised $12,025 that goes directly to helping kids with cancer and their families all over the world!
I am amazed and speechless…
ON YOUR MARK, GET SET…
Yes, this is a real picture of the starting line. I don’t know what I was expecting but this was crazy! 23,000 people strong!
Every 90 seconds, another corral of people was let out of the gate. As one group left, the rest of us moved forward waiting for our turn to go. We could hear every countdown for every group ahead of us and as we moved closer everyone got more focused.
During this time I noticed a young mom on my left. She was holding a huge poster board sized picture on a pole. The picture was of a little girl maybe 2 or 3 years old.
As we moved forward, countdown on, and next to be let out of the gate, I touched her arm and asked who the girl was.
“It’s my daughter, Natalie. She died 4 months ago.”
I held her hand and responded, “Natalie is beautiful. My son, Nick, also died of cancer 10 years ago.”
This complete stranger reached over, embraced me, and kissed me on the cheek as our countdown continued. Five seconds later, we were off.
LET US RUN WITH PERSEVERANCE THE RACE MARKED OUT FOR US
The course ran through downtown Memphis, down jazzy Beale Street, along the great Mississippi, through the St. Jude campus, past the Target House, out of town to the Memphis Zoo, taking a turn to the west past Sun Studios and toward our final destination…Autozone Park.
I never thought about the fact that I had 13.1 miles ahead of me. I just put one foot in front of the other. I was determined to finish. That’s it.
If I wrote about all of the remarkable things that happened along the way, this blog post would become a novel. Instead, let me tell you about 3 things that I was not expecting.
First of all, as I ran through the St. Jude campus at miles 5 and 6, I was really ok. I thought that it would be an emotionally difficult thing to do but it wasn’t. Instead, as I approached the Target House at mile 8 (St. Jude long term housing for patients and families) I could not breathe. This is where Nick and I had lived for 6 months while he was in treatment at St. Jude. Even though I have visited the Target House many times since Nick’s death, memories came flooding back like a tidal wave and I had to stop on the road at the front gate for a minute before I could move on.
Entering the St. Jude Campus Our home…Target House
Another thing that surprised me was the huge number of people lining the streets, hanging off bridges, and cheering from balconies. I cannot say how many high fives were given to me along the way. Too many to count. And even though I had my earbuds in, music playing, I could hear them all shouting encouraging words.
“You got this!”
“You’re doing great!”
“You’re almost there!”
“Keep running for Nick!”
People were actually reading my shirt and yelling out Nick’s name. That was pretty awesome.
The third thing that surprised me was the number of people who ran alongside me to ask about my shirt. I guess no one else was running with 93 ribbons sewn onto their shirt. (See pictures of my race day shirt in the November 28 blog entry “Carry On”).
“Tell me about your shirt. Are those the names of donors?”
I would take out an earbud and answer… “Nick is my son. He died at St. Jude 10 years ago after battling cancer for 8 months. The names on the ribbons are other kids who I have gotten to know along the way. The yellow ribbons are the ones who have survived. The white ribbons are those who have died. I am carrying each of them with me today.”
Some of those who asked would grab my hand for a few moments and walk beside me. All would leave me with tears in their eyes promising to remember Nick as they crossed the finish line.
THE FINISH LINE
As I approached mile marker 12, I thought about how close I was yet how far I still felt from the finish line. One foot in front of the other.
When I started the race, I set my phone to play my race day playlist on a random shuffle (some of the songs on that playlist I have shared with you in previous blog entries). The songs did not play in any order and I didn’t know what was coming next.
A short distance into mile 12, a new song began to play. It would “randomly” be the song that ended my race.
I beg of you to pause reading right now and click the link below to listen to what I heard as I crossed the finish line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKMjEvF2Fkw
Lay your head down tonight
Take a rest from the fight
Don’t try to figure it out
Just listen to what I’m whispering to your heart
‘Cause I know this is not
Anything like you thought
The story of your life was gonna be
And it feels like the end has started closing in on you
But it’s just not true
There’s so much of the story that’s still yet to unfold
And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed
You’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding
God’s plan from the start
For this world and your heart
Has been to show His glory and His grace
Forever revealing the depth and the beauty of
His unfailing Love
And the story has only begun
And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed
We’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding
We were made to run through fields of forever
Singing songs to our Savior and King
So let us remember this life we’re living
Is just the beginning of the beginning
Of this glorious unfolding
We will watch and see and we will be amazed
If we just keep on believing the story is so far from over
And hold on to every promise God has made to us
We’ll see the glorious unfolding
Just watch and see
This is just the beginning of the beginning
I crossed the finish line straight to my waiting husband and cried like a baby. We did it!
LIFE AND DEATH
We flew home to Ohio late on the day of the race. We had to get home to celebrate the 1st birthday of our grandson, Micah, the next day.
I thought for sure that our legs would be cramping up on the flights but that didn’t happen. Walking through the airports was a bit rough and we must’ve looked like a couple of 90 years olds!
It was great to be back home with our kids and grandkids. At the same time it was extremely surreal and hard to believe that we had finished a half-marathon just 24 hours before.
After the last few emotionally and physically challenging days it was such a joy to watch my grandson destroy his birthday cake and open presents.
After the cleanup, we went home to our still packed suitcases. I took a shower and finally dropped into bed exhausted. About a half hour into some movie that I wasn’t paying attention to, I heard my cell phone beep…a text. It was my best friend, Lori…
“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Jeff just passed away. He was unresponsive at home and they rushed him to the hospital with no good news.”
Jeff is Lori’s brother and a lifelong friend of our family. And exactly one week after I had finished the half marathon, I sat at the funeral of a dear friend.
I know this is not
Anything like you thought
The story of your life was gonna be…
With every breath we teeter on the edge of life and death.
So let us remember this life we’re living
Is just the beginning of the beginning…
Each of us will either make it through the day or we won’t.
If we just keep on believing the story is so far from over
And hold on to every promise God has made to us
We’ll see the glorious unfolding…
Run the race. Finish well.
A huge shout out and much gratefulness to every one of you amazing people who donated. (Names are in alphabetical order)
Shawna Ammon
Shirley Auxter
Josh, Carissa, and Ellie Avery
Ken and Jan Avery
Luke Avery
Travis and Libby Avery
The Ball Corporation
Kaylyn Bass
The Bernstein Family
Rachele Black
Bud and Ruth Ann Briggs
Myrle Briggs
Robert Briggs
Jen Brooks
Ethan and Amanda Brownlee
Jay, Alisha, Avery, and Micah Brownlee
Bonnie Cable
Claudia Carrell
Valarie Casey
Lisa Clark
Lorie Craig
Kim DeBlasio
Jake DeHaan
Jill and Jeff DeHaan
Bea and Bob Donato
The Elliott Family
Barbara Faires
Martin Fauss
Bud Fiffick
Greg and Tina Frary
Beth Fredrickson
MaryAnn Graff
Nancy Halliday
Cynthia Henry
Judith Hicks
Leslie Hodgkinson
Homecare with Heart (Stephen Jones, Dottie McLean & John Roberts)
Penny Huffman
Todd and Julie Johnson
Vickilee Johnson
Sandy Kalmeyer
Karen Kaufman
Erica Kaye
Dee and Jo Ellen Kelly
Harry and Cathy Kimes
Arlene Klepfer
Jim and Betsy LaRiccia
Dallas Lehman
Cindy Lomeli
Stephanie Maiorca-Notman
Paul and Kimmy Mallin
The Maurice Family
Holly McMorrow
Beth Meadows
Karma Minkewicz
Cheryl Mohl
Tom Newman
Amy O’Brien
Sherry Oravitz
Lynn Parm
Lee Ann Briggs Potts
Deanna Pylypiak
Jimmy and Kelsey Riggi
Megan Roemer
Rebecca Ruffner
Tracy Sabol
Brin Schaechtel
Seville UMC
Joel and Susie Shields
Christy Simo
Lori Smith
Tracy Kraus Smith
Bob and Debbie Stauffer
Rick and Daneen Stauffer
Charlotte Wilson Stedman
Ginny Sullivan
Jan Szari
Greg Trent
Lori Tolliver
Wally and Beth Valantine
Tamra Leohr Weimer
Carol Willson
Karen Yoho
And 11 anonymous people…you know who you are…thank you from the bottom of my heart.