Movin' On

Bye bye niners. (Those moving through their last year in a decade and wondering what’s coming next.) This is the second morning I’ve opened my eyes knowing that I’ve moved into a new decade. Yesterday I celebrated with an out-of-the-ordinary-hard four-mile run with a son-in-law, a granddaughter and her friend. Short but heavy on the altitude gain. I was just happy that I could do it. No better way to start the day, especially a birthday.

This morning I delivered the tail end of a group which included my children, their spouses and a dozen grandkids, to the airport and back to their various lives.  These “kids” came from New York, San Diego, Seattle, Washington D.C., Tokyo, Cheyenne, Orlando and Fort Collins, to celebrate my birthday. I love them for being willing to do that. I love them even more for the extreme hilarity they generate when they all get together. A little nightlife, some Frisbee, swimming, silly games—they did it all—and then they went away.

 

Eleven of them are between 17 and 27--two will finish high school this year. Five are through college—in grad school or law school, embarking on a gap year or setting out on a career; two are in college, and Brenna, the youngest at eleven, will be in the fifth grade. She’d hardly seen these cousins for many years but, no matter. She instantly became one of the gang and wasn’t about to miss any of the action.

It’s pretty quiet at my house right now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m liking the quiet and the time to reminisce a bit, to appreciate all the good times of the last few days. So many great memories.

I never thought I’d rejoice when someone beat me in a run, but on July 4 it happened when Abby, nearly 23, beat me in a 5k run. Turns out she’d been secretly training for six months. Well, it paid off. She blew by me before mile one and I didn’t see her again until the finish line.

As far as I’m concerned, the number one benefit from long-term running is setting an example for children and grandchildren and it sure came home to me at that moment. A few days later, I barely kept her in view on that uphill birthday morning run. I think she’s hooked.

What fun it’s going to be to watch her in action.

Somebody said 80 is the new 60. I’ll go with that!