Running

I read a book yesterday that had me laughing the entire day.  When I picked up Meet the Mormons from our bookstore, this book was next to it on the display.  I didn't really plan to buy it, but when I saw the cover, I knew I needed a pick-me-up, so I grabbed it as well.  I am so glad I did!

Throughout the book, Lisa was so honest and funny about situations that we encounter as moms.  I know that if I lived close to Lisa, we would be friends.  I love the way she writes, I love the way she jokes about things that are not really fun at the time, and I love how she made me feel like a "good" mom, in spite of the trials I have had recently with my mind/emotions.  I was busting up at every chapter, nodding my head in understanding (or commiseration, depending on the scenario), and relating to the times she would count "running through the sprinklers as bath time," or that she considered "cereal a healthy meal because it is 'fortified with vitamins and minerals' (she must have a Brennon at her house that loves cereal with milk!)."  She made you feel like a friend.  She made me feel normal.

However, it was the last story that she told that clenched the title of Best Book I've Read in a Long Time.  She tells of a story of running a half marathon with her son.  Now that is something that I can NOT relate to.  I want to be a runner.  Maybe.  Someday.  It's the actual running part that I don't want to do.  It's the idea of running that appeals to me.  Just as I want to lose a few pounds.  Yet don't want to give up unhealthy snacking habits.  Maple bar, anyone?

From the beginning of the story, I could visualize everything.  She trains hard, challenging herself to prove to herself (and her son) that she can do hard things.  The day of the race comes and she is thrilled that he says she can set the pace, that they will run the whole thing together, and that she got to be his 'mother' and remind him to pace himself and hydrate.  This had me imagining running a race with Caden.  It almost got me motivated to lace up my sneaks.  I told myself I would finish the chapter first.  And then clean the front room after.  And defrost the freezer...

While running, she was remembering the day of his birth and how far they had come in the fifteen years since.  She remembered staring at her new son and how she can't stop staring at her man-child running next to her.  I was feeling sentimental of my own memories.  I will never forget, "Here she comes, here she comes... It's a BOY!!!"  Best surprise ever!!!  And just like that our Keilie turned into a Caden.  And my dad finally had a boy born into his family.

She told of how she was thinking that as they neared the finish line they would grab hands and run through together.  I could imagine it in my head, photo opportunities coming to mind to capture the moment forever.  And when she said, "I know, stop laughing" when referring to her idea, I thought, "Girl, I am not laughing.  That is the perfect idea," I felt as if she and I maybe could be sisters?!

And then they could see the finish line.  Her son said that he couldn't stand the thought of his mom beating him and silently asked if he could run on ahead.  And as she watched him truly open up and run at the pace that she could not run, she tried cheering him on, but the words caught in her throat.  "Go, Miles! You can do it!"  And it hit her...

"There are places coming in which Miles, and each one of my children, will need to go ahead of me.  And I want them to go, and I will cheer them on, but I cannot go with them.

I know that my kids make their own decisions that will determine who they become and what their race will be like.  They run their race and I run my own.  I want to be with them for the whole time, but I can't.  At the end of the day, that's what I do, exactly: I prepare my kids to run on ahead without me."

~Lisa Valentine Clark, Real Moms

Making It Up As We Go

I could not have said it better, myself.