August 31, 2009
Saturday I enjoyed watching my daughter run a half marathon, her first official race. She made a spur of the moment decision to run in it while she was with her roommate who was signing up for the race. She was feeling some regret about her decision since she hadn’t been able to find the time to train because of the demands of being back in school while continuing to work twenty-seven hours a week.
She determined to go ahead and run the race despite her lack of preparation. Considering she had never run more than nine miles before the day of the race, she did remarkable running 11.5 minute miles. It must be all those exercise videos she has diligently done for the past fifteen years.
She said she enjoyed running the first nine miles listening to her IPod playlist while relishing a gorgeous early morning with next to perfect running temperatures. The last four miles were difficult because she became light-headed and weak. The thing that re-energized her was the cheering from onlookers along the race path and listening to upbeat music.
It was an especially neat and inspiring experience for me to cheer in my loudest voice for my daughter, the elderly, and the handicapped.
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August 26, 2009
I have made many choices I wish I would have made differently, but this time I was happy with my choice.
I was having some physical concerns and felt like I should get a physical. I called my doctor to get an appointment but the soonest they could get me in was two months out.
The day of my doctor’s appoinment, I was in the waiting room when a frazzled-looking lady that appeared to be in her late twenties walked in with a toddler. I immediately recognized her distress, and suspected she was a working mother with young children.
Right after the young mother gave her name to the receptionist, she was informed that she was not on the schedule and was told that she would have to come back on her scheduled appointment day. She almost started to cry and blurted out that she had gotten off work (Bingo! I was right…working mom) and drove for over an hour to get to the doctor. She begged, “Please, please get me in.” I thought for sure the receptionist would work with her, but she told her that the doctor was running way behind and there was no way to fit her in.
I found myself walking over to the receptionist to tell her to give my appointment to the young mother. I told them it wouldn’t be a problem for me to come back at a later time. Heck, I had already waited two months…what’s another six weeks. I left the doctor’s office feeling very happy about my choice.
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