Me

It’s my 42nd birthday today so I get to talk about me and not feel bad about it. Ha!  Sometimes I actually get to do things that don’t involve my wife/mothering duties.  

I spent the past twelve weeks, all summer really, training for a half-marathon. A good friend of mine from college decided to plan an informal social distance run for anyone who wanted something to train for when all races were canceled due to COVID. Ironically, the week before our scheduled race, the smoke from wildfires was so bad she had to postpone the race    Good thing COVID has taught us to be flexible. 

I’m  so lucky to have good friends who make things happen so I can ride on their coat tails. It was a fun race, we talked the whole time, and I was glad I did it even though I was slower than I wanted to be. I decided I’m going to keep running ten miles each Saturday so I can keep my stamina up and hope the next half marathon I run will feel easy. 

Another memorable event happened last week when my friend posted a news segment on her Instagram account. I watched it, mostly out of curiosity because she rarely posts so I figured it must be important. The article was about two police officers in LA who were shot while they were sitting in their patrol car. It was disturbing to say the least.  But the worst part was what happened afterwards. Witnesses saw the officers struggling for their lives, calling for help, and NO ONE helped them. No one called 911. Instead people watched and said they got what was coming to them. People even blocked the entrance to the hospital to prevent the ambulance from getting them into the hospital. I couldn’t believe it. 

I don’t know what came over me but I knew immediately after reading about it that I had to do something. I talked to my boys about what happened and told them that if they ever see someone struggling/suffering/injured, they should always help no matter who the person is or the color of their skin. I picked up a couple boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts and as soon as the boys had a break from their zoom calls, we took the donuts to our local police station with a note thanking them for their service. 

The doors to the station were closed to the public because of COVID so I had to call the police hotline.  A deputy officer and a secretary came out to greet us and Ethan handed them the donuts.  I got a little emotional as I told them how appreciative we were and how upset we were by the things we were watching on the news and wanted them to know we support them.  I was relieved to hear that they said they’d been receiving a lot of support locally by way of emails, phone calls, and treats like ours.  

I hope my boys will never forget that day. We talked about the parable of the Good Samaritan and how Jesus taught is to love our neighbor and that everyone is our neighbor. Everyone!  

I usually avoid watching the news because it’s so depressing and often so one-sided, especially with the upcoming election. But I realize I need to be aware of what’s going on because I can’t allow the media to teach my kids how to think and feel. I’ve enjoyed having some recent discussions with Marcus and am proud of him for standing up for his beliefs both at school and online. 

Ok, that’s enough about me.  42 is going to be a great year! Despite everything happening in the world, I’m happy to be alive.