"Hurry Slowly"

Saturday, January 02, 2010 – 308 days to M day. I still have the stitch on my side from yesterday so I’m thinking it might not be a stitch. It’s been painful for most of yesterday and today. I did go to the gym, still way too cold outside, and jogged for 45 minutes, walked for 10 then jogged some more, and so on. Total time on the treadmill was 80 minutes, only about 5.5 miles. I’m hoping whatever it is that’s smarting will just go away. It was difficult today. I’m still reading Run Your First Marathon by Grete Waitz and she advises to “hurry slowly”, this from the woman who is faster than the speed of light. What do you think her slow is? Good advise though. I’m looking for the best possible training regiment to get me to the other side, without spending a lot of money to hire a trainer.
Her laughter is what I remember the most, about my Mom. When she was sick she didn’t give up laughing or making jokes. In the last 3 years of her life she was immersed in the culture of being sick. Doctor, hospital, chemotherapy, radiation, scan, blood test. Doctor, hospital, chemotherapy, radiation, scan, blood test. She didn’t let it get her down. She kept herself high on, well, Percocet for one but on living. She chose to live a culture of living, rather than on sickness and death. Mom had surgery on her abdomen to remove an aneurysm 3 weeks before my sister was getting married. It was a very difficult surgery because she had metastatic breast cancer besides the aneurysm. She pulled through it and was home before the wedding. If I remember the dress had to be altered because she lost even more weight. Anyway, the laughter thing; obviously the wound was not healed and was leaking some. She didn’t want to leak on the dress so with her friend Kate we wrapped the wound in saran wrap and tape, a lot of saran wrap and tape. She was laughing and joking about the saran wrap. There she was the proud Mom walking down the aisle of the church, wig on, dress on, saran wrap on, smiling. It was a very long day for her but she held up. She smiled a lot that day, maybe it was her milestone; living to see her baby get married. She wasn’t supposed to be living on my sister’s wedding day.