Cross Country is amazing. And exciting!)

I also love the great sportsmanship!  The girls team cheering loudly for the boys and visa versa.  Other teams congratulating and saying nice things to their rivals. …very refreshing.

Way way back in the treeline was the starting line

Lots of runners starting to come by us

My boy in the green and white!

Water table with the ambulance in the background

Alan crossing the finish line!

My boy. (Alan). 5K run - approx 28 min. I was so excited I didn't get it exact.

This is just for fun. A house near the school. Holy cow! Imagine their heating bill!

Click this cute button 4 more.

This day I am thankful for…….

The other day I went to get some new tires on my car.  Forty-five minutes or less guaranteed or $20 off.  I sat down in front of the shop’s tv only to find out they received no local channels and only had DIY and shopping channels.  Weird.  I started watching an infomercial on an upside down tomato planter.

About 10 minutes later an elderly black man sat down near me.   He settled in slowly and let out a sigh as he gently wiped a thin bead of sweat from his forehead.

I don’t know how the conversation started but it was one of the best conversations I’ve had in ages.   Several other people sitting among us got up and used their cell phones, looked at the displays of tires, were generally not interested in speaking (that’s for sure).   One was completely upset by the vending machine that ate her money (as evident by the banging on the glass).   All of them too busy to pass down time listening or chatting with strangers.

But, not me.  This old man was wanting to talk, maybe share his thoughts and feelings or impart some wisdom.   We covered everything from race relations to kids in college to the power of the negative and positive (thinking) and profound things he’s heard throughout his wonderful lifetime.

I enjoyed his smile as he spoke very softly and slowly and imagined myself one day in the future.   Two things that he says he based his life on were things strangers had said to him during his young adult years:

“Never let another person define you.” AND…
“We’re all just passin through.”  (” Just passin through.”, he repeated softly)

What a wonderful morning treat for me! And it didn’t even matter that the 45 minutes turned into an hour and a half. (I did however get that $20). His daughter came to pick him up and he thanked me for listening to him and said I felt like family.

I thought that was the sweetest thing! I replied that I enjoyed our conversation as well and he nodded and smiled. And said goodbye.

Have YOU ever been delighted by a stranger?

What Is Spread the Word to End the Word?

Spread the Word to End the Word is a campaign created by youth, in an ongoing effort with Special Olympics and Best Buddies International, to engage schools, organizations and communities by raising the consciousness of society about the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the word “retard(ed)” and encouraging everyone to stop using the R-word.

On March 3, 2010, youth are leading the second annual day of awareness to Spread the Word to End the Word by encouraging people to rally and pledge their support at www.r-word.org with the goal of reaching 100,000 pledges.