Light and Love and meeting a friend

I finally got to meet one of my favorite people in the world last week. A special friend, a special person.

Our paths almost crossed in London a year ago.  We both saw Les Miserables, one night apart.  We were both in the London Theater district for two nights, different plays, different theater's. Over 5,000 miles from home and we were probably one minute, one turn from bumping into each other.

We didn't realize we were both in London until after I left for Paris.

A friendship that began when my friend clicked on a link written by another friend about Kelly's passing at the age of 19.

Kelly with her transplant donor, Emily.  February 2008.

She  wrote my friend to get my e-mail address.  She wrote to ask me if she could wear Kelly's name on the back of her Team in Training jersey for a marathon she would run in October.  I found her e-mail in my inbox the morning we got home from Cut Bank, after laying Kelly to rest. 

We became good friends, sharing a bond of love for our team heroes, our angels.  Shared a dream of a world without blood cancer.

Shayna and Cathie at Team In Training Inspiration Dinner

Shayna's team hero Laiken passed away 37 days after Kelly at the age of 13.

Kelly and Laiken are our connectors.

The tag line at the end of every post  on my blog ends with Light and Love x 19 x forever.  Light and Love is Shayna's tag line. I borrowed it.

When we write to each other, we end with Light and Love x 13 or Light and Love x 19,  always end with Light and Love for Laiken and Kelly, for each other.

We have been waiting over four years to be able to hug each other.  Shanya was on an epic road trip with her son, California to Chicago and points beyond.  Denver was one of their stops.  She took the time to call me.

I can't describe the what I felt when as we were finally able embrace.  It was worth the wait, a hug filled with tears and laughter.

We talked for almost two hours.  I savored every moment, not wanting to say good-bye.

Thank you Shayna for your friendship and the love and light you bring to my life x 13 x 19 x forever!

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Thank Heaven for my little girl

Dear Laura,

Twenty five years ago today, you came into our lives.

A day much like today.  Blue skies.

I played 9 holes of golf with my Dad that morning.

Today I went for a run not far from where I played golf that morning.

Your mommy and I were at the medical center this morning where you were born.  Strange, somewhat similar and so much has changed.

We live in the same house that we did when you were born.

Mommy and I lived with there with our dog Erin and our cat Shasta.  She was a friendly kitty.  Imagine that.

Today we had lunch at East Cafe, a birthday cake at home with 25 candles.

You blew them all out with ease.

23 years ago, we lit the candles over and over again and sang Happy Birthday to you.  You would blow out the candles, clap your hand and say "Do again."

So we did.

Many times.

Memories of that moment, etched into my mind forever.

Adam graduated from high school when you turned 21.

Reenacting the FAU Tipsy Table :)

You actually ran a 5K on your birthday when you were 23.  Yes, you did!  I looked it up.

Thank goodness, Vicki tricked you into running your first Bolder Boulder the year before.

Two years later we ran a marathon in Paris together.

I have lost track of all of the 5K's we have run together and each one is a special memory.

Swim meets beginning at the Aurora YMCA.  Who knew what that that first summer of swimming would bring to your life?

So many high school and MACS swim meets.  Hours spent at the pool to watch you compete for 1 to 2 minutes.

Holding my breath watching you race against the clock to get your sectional qualifying times.

I can't swim 15 yards of butterfly.  You could slice through the water, looking so fluid and powerful.  Wow, what a pair of shoulders you had.

I remember riding our bikes all the way past the Paul Beck Center when you were a little girl.  We rode over 20 miles that day.  You always were a distance athlete.

Now I can't keep up with you on the bike.

Do you remember your first Bronco game?   I think it was in 1994 or 1995 against the Atlanta Falcons. Would anyone be surprised to know you wore a pink coat to the game?

We have gone to Yoga classes together.

We watched Kelly graduate from high school together.

It has been seven years since you graduated from high school.  Almost seven years since sob fest of 2005.

Seven years since you ran a 5K in San Francisco in the only flat spot in the city and couldn't walk the next day.

We watched this movie the night before you left for your freshman year in college. We used to joke about this line from the movie, "you have a daughter?"  Well we thought it was funny.  I think you would roll your eyes.

Thank heaven for little girls
Thank heaven for them all
No matter where
No matter who
Without them
What would  little boys  their daddy's do?

I am so proud of the person you are and have always been.  I am blessed that you are my daughter as well as my friend.

I love you.

Happy Birthday on your special day.  Now no jumping from moving objects this year :)  K?  K!!!

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Rushing and missing the moment

As I was leaving the office for my final time last month, two of  my friends walked me out to my car to say goodbye.

We hugged one another for the last time and one of my friends gave me a gift.

Rushed through the moment.

My friend told me that she loved me.

I should have stopped to really take that in and celebrate her gift.

She truly has been a good friend.

She has had my back at work for 15 years.

Someone that I really admire and respect. 

Someone I could talk to about anything.

She was one of the first people I talked to at work the day Kelly died, fell in her arms and cried.

Bummer.  I missed it.

I can't have that moment back.

I will be sure and really thank her the next time I see her.  Tell her how much her words touched me.

I hope the next time I get a gift like this I stop and savor it and really be present to the moment.

How do you  respond when someone tells you that you are loved, that you are special?

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Empty Chairs and Empty Cubicles

With apologies to Alan Boubil and  Claude MichaelSchonberg:

There’s a sadness that can’t be spoken.

There’s a pain goes on and on.
Empty chairs at empty cubicles
Now my friends and I are gone.

Here we talked our dreams.
Here it was we lit the flame.
Here we talked about `tomorrow’
And tomorrow never came.

Phantom faces at the window.
Phantom shadows on the floor.
Empty chairs at empty cubicles.
Where my friends and I will work no more.

Oh my friends, my friends, don’t ask me
what our sacrifice was for
Empty chairs at empty cubicles
Where my friends and I will meet no more.

Thursday, we were told that our jobs were being eliminated, moved to a managed services group(fancy word for outsourcing).

I had worked with some of these people for over 15 years, one for 20 years.

We had raised our families while working together.

I will miss my friends.

As Al Gore, said during this concession speech, "It's time for me to go."

Empty Chairs and Empty Tables .

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30 days of Thanks: Day 1

I found a really cool idea on Facebook this morning. Please click here to check it out and join in the 30 days of thanks campaign.

Today I am thankful for:

A beautiful fall day in Colorado.
My Aunt who sent me a check to help fix my bike that I wrecked in August.
My running and blogging friends that inspire me, make me laugh, sometimes move me to tears.

Dane
Heather
Kelly
Shayna
Sarah
Eric

My special friend, Brittany who inspires me with her relentless pursuit of finding a cure for blood cancers.

Thursday night runs at the Irish Snug with Laura and Nate.

I am thankful for the life I have with my family.

I still get to live with both of my children, Laura and Adam. Every day with them is a blessing.

I am so thankful for the amazing person I am married to. My wife Sue, who has given me this amazing life with her and our children.

WOW!

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Skirt Chaser 5K

Laura, Ryan and Vicki at the 5K Skirt Chaser.



This is a bit different than all of the other road races. The women all start off first with the men's division starting 3 minutes later.



First person, regardless of gender to cross the finish line wins $500.00



Before the race, we stopped by the Hot 107 van and encountered a very nice young man(Ryan), wearing a very pink skirt.



I asked him if I could take his picture and he even flashed a bit of extra skin. Too funny.



Laura said the leading man passed her before the one mile mark. He was smoking. She was sure that he was going to win the overall race.



I ran pretty good for me these days. 8:33, 8:33, 8:29 and .45 for the last .1.



26:15! I will take it. The best part for me was I ran the race totally pain free. It has been a long way back this year.



I had fun hanging out after the race with Laura and Vicki. Good times.



Oh, the ladies won the race this year and fairly handily(17 seconds or so).

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What calls your heart?

What calls your heart? The closing of the Rocky Mountain News yesterday serves a another reminder that when our heart calls, we should answer. Don't screen the calls from your heart, don't let it go to voice mail. Make sure that is one call you return.

I was very saddened to see the Rocky Mountain News close. I have lived in Colorado my entire life. I have been a loyal reader of the Rocky since I delivered the paper in 1972-1973.

Delivering the newspaper in an era long since gone on an indestructible bike with canvas bags to hold the newspaper. I had to go door to door every month to collect the $2.25 so I could pay the monthly invoice. I think I made around 100.00 a month before tips. Kids today don't even get the chance to have that experience. Papers are delivered by adults in cars, all the billing is done on-line and now today the voice of the Rocky is silent, 55 days short of it's 150 year anniversary.

As I read this article I was struck by the importance of the question, what calls your heart? How many of us are ready to answer that call?

Lance Armstrong is getting back on his bike answering the calling of his heart as he continues his relentless battle against cancer.

I see so many of my friends and colleagues at the Leukemia and Lymphoma society that are called by their hearts to serve. Could they make more money if they weren't working for a non profit? Absolutely, but that is not where their hearts have called them.

I see the changes in my wife as she answers what is calling her heart as she serves as a mentor in the Colorado Youth at Risk program.

My children are both in college. I hope they will know what their hearts call them to do and follow that path.

What calls your heart? Please make sure you answer.

Please take a moment to read the column. here

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Kelly's friends at the Surf City marathon expo

This is a neat story of how Dane, Shanya and I are linked together through Kelly.

Dane and I became cyber friends in fall of 2006 while he was running 52 marathons in 52 weekends. We corresponded via e-mail for almost two years before we finally got a chance to meet at the Boulder marathon last September.

Dane knew Kelly was very ill and had kindly sent her a signed picture of him running for her 19th birthday. I saw the picture that Dane had sent her when I went to visit her last February. I was so touched by his kind gesture and words of encouragement he had written to Kelly.

Dane posted an article about Kelly on his blog a week after she died and seeing her name in the title caught Shayna's eye.

http://danerunsalot.blogspot.com/2008/03/kelly-grubb.html

Shayna immediately wrote Dane and asked him for my e-mail address and we have since become very good friends. We just haven't had the chance to meet each other yet. I think that when Shayna and I first meet, we will have a good cry and then I suspect we will spend a lot of time laughing.

This weekend, Dane and Shayna were both at the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach, California so now I have a picture of two of my favorite people in the world together.

I think it is so neat that the three of us are friends and even neater that we are linked together through Kelly.

Now we just all need to end up at the same marathon. What a reunion that will be!

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