Mother's Day 2020. My daughter and I had the opportunity to spend the evening yesterday with my Mom and Dad.
We normally take my parents out to eat each year for Mother's and Father's Day, but given the fact the restaurants are just opening back up and Dad isn't in the best spot to getting out after having a stroke nearly three weeks ago she asked for their favorite barbecue in.
Naturally, we obliged.
Like most other visits, we had a great time with them.
My daughter has already spent time today with her Mom and is heading to her grandparents' for an evening meal with her Mom's family.
It was really good to get out last weekend and I have plans to do so again next weekend.
I took off 11 counties from my list of 254 Texas counties to run in and I have plans to - hopefully - remove 15 or 16 from the list next weekend.
Two weeks after that, I plan to get on a plane for the first time since February and head to Midland to do the same.
Since many things I have enjoyed doing are no longer options until larger crowds are able to gather, I can still run and as I said earlier this goal to run a mile or more in every Texas county is something I will strive to complete in 2020.
I was pretty flattered this week to be asked to write something by the daughter of a long-time friend of our running and triathlon community who is about to turn sixty.
She wrote to me saying, "I am asking 60 people to share something they admire about him or a fun memory with me to put in a booklet for him."
I felt like I was one of the NBA's top 50 of all-time to get to be asked to do something like this.
She said she needed it by Friday. Her ask was on Monday and when I was out walking on Tuesday I thought about what I was going to write, but I didn't get it done until Friday.
Am pretty thankful for the ability to write that God's given me and I was fortunate to complete it in a single setting.
When I sent it, I shared, "Might be more than what you wanted, and it might be a little different; however, it speaks to what I see in your Dad."
I won't post what I wrote because I certainly don't want to for somebody to read this that might not have been included in the sixth, but his daughter had this to say about what I shared:
"Mr. Walk, this made me tear up! Thank you for such an incredible write-up! I agree with you 100%. May God bless you and your family in this season. I am so grateful for this truly 🙂. My dad and I share a birthday so this is so special."
As I share with my daughter all of the time, I might not say it as often as I should but when I open my mouth I try to acknowledge to God how thankful I am for my abilities and the opportunities that He gives me to use them.
The day before the request, I learned that a very long-time sportswriting friend of mine was being let go as the parent company of the newspaper he worked for was paring down other publications around the country, likely due to a drop in advertising during the COVID-19 crisis.
It just gave me a sickening feeling.
He's one of the good guys, with a great wife and two great boys.
And a talented writer to boot.
I have his one book that he wrote and he's working on another, which he said that he was going to send me a few sections of to preview. I look forward to getting and reading them
I hope that he'll start a website or blog and figure out a way to monetize a little bit. I'd love to read more of what he writes.
And finally, for now, it was good to talk to probably my best friend - the only person that I told of my Dad's stroke (aside if he read about it here, a bit buried) - to learn that he started his training group's meetings back on Saturday mornings, but with all of the appropriate social distancing guidelines of the municipality that they run from.
His spirit, I know, was lifted and he shared that he felt others were as well. (For the record, nobody was allowed to congregate, but rather come in to the common area, say "Hi!", take off on their long run and come back, rinse, wash and repeat.)
He's going to do things by the book because well, he would even if nobody was watching but in this case: everybody, I'm sure, is watching.
If you're reading, have a great start of the week.
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