7 years ago today

This is the 7th anniversary of the day when I ran my first Marathon. The Harrisburg Marathon in Pennsylvania. It was a tough day and I learned a great deal about myself that day. While it was a brutal day for me physically, running a 4:12, what I learned was not because of the marathon (which did teach me me to not wear a three-quarter lengths sleeved cotton t-shirt, beaded necklace, wire-rimmed sunglasses, and shoes that weren't even meant for a 5k.)



No, on 11/11/01, I lost my Grandmother Roessner . Being the youngest by far in my family, I was too young to remember most of those in my family who passed when I was a little boy. My Grandmother passing, which I did not find out about until AFTER I finished the marathon, was the first time I lost someone close to me in my life. With her picture on the wall exiting my bedroom, I think of her everyday.

It is weird to me that my grandmother, and then eventually her husband, my Grandpa, who would pass in early 2004 and with whom I shared so much of my life, never witnessed any of my marathoning in the form it is today.

So, on this Veteran's Day, I salute not only the Veterans that have helped protect this country (of which my Grandfather was one) but also my grandparents as well.

I miss and love you both.