Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Getting back on the track

Both of my grandfathers had passed away well before I was born. I was only a few years old when my mother’s mother died so I don’t remember her at all. The memories of my father’s mother are sketchy at best – mostly things I put in my head from the few pictures I have of her. I didn’t know the feeling of loss or sorrow until a few years after she died, 40 years ago today.

I know I’ve shared this story before, maybe not in great detail, but I’ve still written it. This summer, though, having just missed running in my second 5K due to bursitis and tendinitis, this story seems more pertinent. I never thought I would miss running, but for the last five weeks, I have felt like a lame racehorse on a short leash, my ability to run curbed completely.

When the greatest filly to ever run broke her leg in the Match Race against Foolish Pleasure on July 7, 1975, she didn’t know how to stop. Her jockey tried pulling her up, but Ruffian kept running until her leg was shattered and bones were sticking out. She was rushed into surgery but when she came out of the anesthesia, she was still running. Her thrashing undid all the work the vets had done to repair her leg and she had to euthanized.

I’d like to think I had that kind of spirit, maybe not the kind that does me in, but at least the kind that keeps me going against the odds. Or at least keeps me going when I am in pain or have writer’s blog or have too much going on and don’t have a spare minute in the day or have many minutes in the day and waste every one of them.

You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged in a while and those are just some of the reasons why. I haven’t had a surge of inspiration or an “ah-ah” moment that is going to motivate me, but hopefully I can at least get back on the track. 


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