Keeping Pace

Keeping Pace

Archives for June 19, 2009

Meeting Runner Susan

by 7 Comments

I never dreamed that the act of blogging would be as powerful as it has proven to be. You, my dear readers, are considered my “friends” in the true sense of the word. We share so much of our lives and deepest thoughts with each other. I feel I’ve known many of you for all of my life.

Cycling with Runner Susan & 21st Century Mom

So, when Runner Susan asked if I would join her in Napa for a bike ride, I jumped at it — without hesitation.

The timing could not have been more perfect. YaYa was away at camp, leaving only the dogs to get caretakers for.

21st Century Mom (whom I’ve met before) and I happily left our work behind us.  We hooked up with each other, and then with Runner Susan and “the Chef” for a lovely day touring the Napa Valley.

Later in the week, when Susan invited us back down for more, I was sorely tempted.  I think 21CM was as well.

Now, I need to find a good excuse to go to Texas because Runner Susan is even more wonderful in person than she is in her blog.  Seriously.

the rest of the story

by 7 Comments

I allowed Brit access to my blog so that she could share a bit about the quilt that she has spent a good part of the last 12 months creating for me. If you click over to her blog, you can piece together more of her experience mixed in with the many posts on her adorable family, being a mommy, a wife, a runner, etc. Now that Brit has posted her story, I thought I’d write about the same quilt from my side.

IMG_0082.JPG

In some ways, it seems like a long time since I handed Brit the bag of Tom’s clothing.

I selected my favorite shirts of his:

  • The one that he wore on many a special occasion.
  • The one that was amazingly soft and made his amazing blue eyes stand out.
  • The one he wore to spread Papa’s ashes — which I slobbered all over when he held me to cry.

There are so many memories with each piece of clothing. One never thinks of things like this – until something like this happens. Believe me; going through the closets and drawers of your deceased husband is no easy task. Having a year to do work up to the task was just about right.

Deep in the bowels of that closet, I came across a few items of clothing that were long forgotten. For the life of me, I have no idea why he kept these things, but I am glad that he did. Among them, was a jean jacket that Tom had worn when we were first dating and he was of anorexic proportion. I sometimes wore it when we were out on a date and it got cold. There was also the tee shirt which I had given to Tom when the boys and I visited Lisa in Washington after she moved away. YaYa was 2 and BoBo was 8 years old at the time. In that closet, there were a few other treasures, and many items I considered “junk.” And I shed a whole lot of tears.

But it wasn’t tears on the day that we met for the handoff. Instead, it was filled with much laughter and hope. Brit, Mia and I picked up right where we had left off the year before, filling in the gaps-not-blogged and basking in the friendship built across the blogosphere. That’s how it is with blogger meet ups.

I also got to meet Mr. Running Stitch, who was charming and funny in a way that reminds me a lot of Tom. So when he got cold, it was without hesitation that I insisted he put on one of Tom’s shirts to warm up. True to form our meet-up extended well into the evening. I must admit, he wore it well. We exchanged hugs, and then I cried in the MommyVan as I watched them walk off with that bag of memories.

And then I waited…

[Read more…]

Content Protected Using Blog Protector By: PcDrome.