Ah, Youth

Remember the Wednesday before spring break when I was running and my Tucky darted in front of me and I fell?

Well, I'm back!

That's right! Yesterday was my first day back at running and it went well! I was so excited!

Even though I took it slow and easy. 4 weeks and 4 days of not being able to run was long. And torturous. But I wanted to make sure I could do it and keep doing it.

Of course, DoodleBug decided to come with me. And I was quickly reminded of my youth. And how much I miss it.

She ran circles around me and, by the time I finished one mile, she had run 2 or 3. Sigh.

And then, just to make me miss my youth that much more, Deanie ran her first half marathon yesterday.

She signed up at work with some friends---(Deanie is in the middle)--

They trained and trained and yesterday was the day of the run. I thought back on my college days when I ran. I don't remember liking it at all, but I did it nearly every day. I wasn't a distance runner, only running 2 or 3 miles, but I could do it.

Anyway, the girls went out about 6:00 A.M. to prepare. The race started at 7:00. I really don't remember ever smiling like they are THAT early in the morning during my youthful years.

 I finally decided to just be proud of myself for even attempting to get out there and run at all at my middle age. I decided to appreciate the fact that a lovely has moved home and WANTS to go out running with me all. And to just be so proud of Deanie getting out there and running a half marathon.

Which sent me right into mama mode and I started worrying about her running all that way and whether or not she had enough water and then the whole Boston Marathon issue popped into my head. Why do we moms do that? 

Anyway, afterwards, I told Deanie she should take advantage of her sister (Birdie) being an athletic trainer and ask her what needed to be done following a 13 mile run. 

Birdie told her to hydrate and stretch. 

And, because youthfulness is closely related to smart assery in our family, I got this picture--

Yes, my youth is gone and missed. But the youthful laughter that surrounds me tends to keep me more youthful than I realize.

OH- her time was 2:08--not too shabby for a first timer!

I'm linking this post to the twenty-fifth post of the April, A-Z Challenge!

Just click the badge below to visit other participants. 

Ok, let's see what y'all came up with for the letter 'Y'!

The Darkest of Days

Yesterday was a dark day.  A young girl, around the age of 20, decided to take her own life.

I don't get it.

She was a friend of DoodleBug's.  They were to co-captain the college Ultimate Frisbee team in the fall.  She was a lovely young girl.  A college student.  A daughter.  A sister.  A friend...

I don't get it.

What is it that darkens such a young soul to the point that she thinks there is no way out?  How had she possibly lived long enough to reach such a dark place?  What was she looking for?  What was missing?  What was she thinking?  How did it come to such finality?

I don't get it.

If she had been my age or older, I would be sitting here thinking how foolish and selfish she was.  But she was a kid.  And I want to know why. And I want to know how it came to this.  And I am angry.  Not at her but that our young people have the ability to get to this point.  They should not have the first clue about something this dark.

And now, on Monday, we will be celebrating the 4th at the funeral of a 20 year old girl who could not see her way out. 

The following pictures are just a few of the college Ultimate team---the first one includes the mens team. 

You'd never be able to pick that precious child out of the group--her smile is was just as big as everyone else's. 

That's DoodleBug on the left.