There are some moments in life that take your breath away, stop you dead in your tracks, and overwhelm you with joy and it isnt always the moments we expect. It isnt always a wedding or birth of a child. Yesterday, I had one of those moments. Halfway through the 12 mile race, I was in the middle of a 30 burpee penalty for failing the spear throw and looked over at the spectators. My mom was waving happily and videotaping my performance. Of course, we had planned for my mom to share the weekend with us and witness our torture and I was so happy to see her at this halfway point in the race cheering us on. Beside her, sat a man that looked very familiar. With each burpee, I was sure that I was having some sort of delusion, resulting from low blood sugar but couldnt get over how familiar he looked. My mom didnt seem to notice him so surely it was just another one of the 7000 people milling around. This man was grinning from ear to ear and didnt take his eyes off me. At about the 20th burpee, I dared to utter, Dad? and he nodded yes. Mom, dad is sitting right beside you, I said at about the same time that Mahendra noticed him and announced, Kathe, theres your dad. Clearly my parents are divorced and have been since I was 14 and I can count on one hand the number of times my parents have been in the same room for the past 28 years. And, there he was. My dad researched the race, took a connecting flight from Miami through Atlanta to Charlotte, rented a car and drove an hour--all to surprise and see me compete in the Spartan Race. Both my parents were there for me and no other reason. At that point, I knew I could finish the race. My parents laughed about old times, we all shared an amazing celebratory meal and appreciated each other. Families dont always look and act like what we expect, but we were a family yesterday sharing laughter and love. I will carry this moment for the rest of my life and know that I am special and loved. Signed, Tears of Joy
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 17:21:34 +0000
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