Stopping On A Dime!

   

Saturday was the first big change in weather day in weeks with cooler temps and rain. Before Saturday it was a no brainer to just put on either a singlet or t shirt and shorts. Ruth Anne and I went through a deciding what to wear conversation that went something like Hat? No, headband. Could you get out my volunteer jacket? Do I need to put on extra layer? Then the conversation turned to where should we go? Ordinarily when it's raining, we go out the door or no farther than Jamaica Plain. In our infinite wisdom, we decided to go to Castle Island. The rain and wind picked up on our drive there. We mentally dialed in. 

As we were preparing to leave the car I said, "Here let me put my hood up." As I tried to reach for the hood there was none. I started laughing nervously. Ruth Anne grabbed my Boston Marathon jacket which is the same colors as  the volunteer jacket. She felt awful and I told her it was an honest mistake.  "Should we only do 2 miles instead of a 5K?" Ruth Anne asked.

"No," I said with great confidence. "We'll be fine!" We'd done many longer runs in wind and rain so a 5K was totally manageable.

We tuned out the weather and tuned into breathing in the sea air, feeling the awe of Mother Nature especially as she churned the ocean's waters.

As we went over the bridges to run the Sugar Bowl (IYKYK) the rain pelted our faces as the wind picked up. We started to sing because well what else are you gonna do? We shared an indescribable joy in our strength and resilience braving the elements. I felt strong and determined to keep a steady pace while pausing to take photos and document this adventure.

At mile 1, I paused to hydrate knowing how important it is to stay well hydrated despite cooler temps and rain. "Hmm, this has a funny taste to it." We both started laughing so hard! Ruth Anne had prepared the water bottles and remembered it wasn't completely rinsed out after she had a Nunn tablet during her last long run.

Note that Ruth Anne's headband is inside out! We didn't realize it until we looked at the photos after our run! For some reason, my Garmin has been tracking pace and not the mileage. "We're at 1.55," Ruth Anne said. We wondered if perhaps we shouldn't go back over the bridges since the wind wouldn't be as strong on lower ground but Ruth Anne was determined to go the same route.

All of a sudden I stopped and paused my Garmin. "Mom are you okay? ... What are you doing?" 

 

"Is that a dime?" I asked Ruth Anne. I wasn't wearing my glasses because of the rain.

"Yes. Come on. We gotta keep going!"

I bent down and picked up the dime. I was a bit unsteady between going at a fast pace and being buffeted by wind and rain but I was drawn to the dime. Finding dimes when I am on a run holds special significance for me. FDR is on the dime because during his presidency he vowed to eradicate  polio. Eddie Cantor, a radio personality, suggested that people send in their change to the President. There was an influx of dimes and the money was used to support research into the polio vaccine. He also founded the March of Dimes to support those who contracted polio. I was one of those who was able to benefit from the support of the March of Dimes. I could never go out and play in the rain or mud puddles given my physical limitations due to polio coupled with severe trauma. But, as Tony Robbins likes to say, it's never too late to have a happy childhood. The poem, "Come Out and Play" was written after I had a dream shortly after the diagnosis. I dreamed that I came out of my leg brace and was splashing in the puddles a la Gene Kelly in Dancing in the Rain!

 Ruth Anne and I laughed a hearty belly laugh at how I looked stopping my run and staring at the ground without communicating what I was doing. I told her "Wait a sec. I gotta see the date." "No put that dime away, we've gotta finish this thing."

And so I did and so we did.

We cranked up the heat in the car putting our jackets and headbands in the back seat. We had an amazing feeling of accomplishment for having the courage to start and then finishing our 5K. Ruth Anne checked the date on the dime. It was 2022. That was the year that the mother of Ruth Anne's best friend with whom I was very good friends made her transition. We've been experiencing a lot of signs from her.

"Yup that was Carol," Ruth Anne said.

On the drive home we reminisced about Carol and the special times Ruth Anne shared when she'd spend time at her best friend's house. We were both very happy that I decided to stop on a dime in the midst of wind and rain to remember an old friend and to experience a hearty laugh!

In health and wellness,

Mary

Visit my website to be inspired by my journey. May it ignite a spark within you to go farther than you ever believed you could. Be sure to visit the News and Events Page with links to podcast interviews, speaking engagements and where you can find my incredibly inspirational story. My interview with the amazing On the Runs podcast team of Erika Hamel and Eric Knuuttunen is Episode 56. Be sure to subscribe and download on your favorite podcast platform and subscribe to their YouTube channel.

On 9/28 I will be at Providence Fit Body Boot Camp for a book signing and inspirational conversation, "Running With Health Challenges as Septuagenerians: Still Moving and Finishing Strong." Details are on the News and Events  Page.

Proud to BU is a podcast highlighting the illustrious achievements of Boston University Alumni. Here is the link to my episode.

My books that pack powerful messages of healing, hope and possibilities are available on Amazon  My 7th book, "A Most Unlikely Runner:Inspiration From The Heart of a Warrior" is receiving rave reviews and is a selection of the WBZ News Radio Book Club.

We Don't Stop Playing Because We Grow Old...

"Do you think we should go to the Rec Center? It's pretty bad out there."

"By the time we get in the car, find a parking space, and walk to the Rec Center, we could have done our first mile," I said to Ruth Anne.

"Yeah you're right."

We layered up and embraced the elements for our Thursday miles. We splashed in the puddles when we couldn't avoid them. Rather than grumbling at the wind and torrential downpours we laughed. I felt the unbridled joy that we were outside, healthy and able to run in the rain. 

Do you know why I love rainy days with mud and puddles when it's a scheduled run day? Because having contracted paralytic polio at the age of 5 and enduring years of abuse at the hands of family members meant I could never experience the unbridled joy of going out and splashing in puddles. Shortly after being diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome and having been told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, I got still and asked for Divine Guidance. Poetry started flowing out of me igniting the fire of my imagination to heal my past and create a future very different than the one Western Medicine predicted for me. 

After I had a dream in which I came out of my leg brace and was splashing in puddles a la Gene Kelly, I wrote the above poem, "Come Out and Play."

Come Out and Play

Arms flung open wide dancing in the rain
pure abiding joy to feel alive again
healing tears fall and blend in God’s puddle
no time to sit in a corner and huddle
all the old rules driven by fears
washed away now by God’s loving tears
the imprint dad left no longer remains
rain washes away all of the stains
baptized with love, Truth lights my way
the sun shines through on this rainy day
splashing and laughing my heart opens wide
embracing and flowing I’m one with the tide
God takes my hand release the old way
bathe in my glory come out and play!

I am often reminded of Wayne Dyer's quote:

It's ironic that it took the diagnosis of a progressive neuromuscular disease for me to find my joy and my passion in life.

After a major setback in 2021/2022, I realized that I needed to get back on my healing path reminding myself that there was going to be pain whether or I pushed myself or "played it safe". I am so happy I pushed myself up and out of the setback to rekindle my joy of being out on the roads.

Ruth Anne insisted we take selfies to capture the joy in the sloshing squishing of shoes and being soaked to the skin:

 

I was amazed at how we were able to keep moving despite feeling weighed down by our clothing and being literally soaked to the skin! But when we finished the run, after peeling off our clothes and drying off, I felt as though I could take on the whole world.

In my latest book, "A Most Unlikely Runner:Inspiration From The Heart of a Warrior," I share quotes about training runs in the rain on the road to the 2024 Bermuda 10K. One of my favorites is: 

We could have gone to the BC Fit Rec Center or opted to do strength training or taken an unscheduled rest day but what would have been the fun in that? 

I am coming up on my half birthday on 6/25th - halfway through the first year of my new decade. As I grow older (not old), I make it a habit to find joy, play and laughter as often as I can! It's true that we don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!

In health and wellness,

Mary

Visit my website to be inspired by my journey. May it ignite a spark within you to go farther than you ever believed you could. Be sure to visit the News and Events Page with links to podcast interviews, speaking engagements and where you can find my incredibly inspirational story. My interview with the amazing On the Runs podcast team of Erika Hamel and Eric Knuuttunen is Episode 56. Be sure to subscribe and download on your favorite podcast platform and subscribe to their YouTube channel.

Proud to BU is a podcast highlighting the illustrious achievements of Boston University Alumni. Here is the link to my episode.

My books that pack powerful messages of healing, hope and possibilities are available on Amazon

"A Most Unlikely Runner: Inspiration From The Heart of a Warrior is now available.  Book Release Party 6/3  7-8pm at Livite Brookline in Washington Square Brookline

 

Seventeen Months Later - Worth the Wait!

 

We met through running and, as so often happens in the running community, became sole sisters. I am an honorary member of the Merrimack Valley Striders of which she has been a member for many years and one evening was going to the meeting as a guest speaker. Kelly had a minor medical procedure earlier in the day and couldn't stay for the meeting but met me in the parking lot so we could meet "IRL" or in real life for the first time. I gave her a copy of Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility.

We remained close friends in person and in social media. We supported each other through different challenges and celebrated joys and triumphs in our lives and in our children's lives.

On February 12, 2020, we met at Legal Seafood in Chestnut Hill for lunch. Fortunately, Kelly doesn't mind the drive into Boston from where she lives just north of Boston. We had a delicious leisurely lunch that nourished us both mind, body and soul. Kelly had a very busy work schedule but decided it was vital to take time out to care of herself and to meet with friends. In August of 2019 we finally put the pieces of the puzzle together for what was happening with my daughter Ruth Anne and I was emerging from the caregiver role able to meet friends for lunch again.

"I'm paying this time," Kelly said and added "you'll pay next time."

We agreed to schedule monthly lunch dates because life is just too short!

Our date for March came and went as we feverishly messaged each other on Facebook. I kept rescheduling our reservation on Open  Table until everything went into lock down. We frequently messaged each other through FB messenger checking in to see how we were weathering the pandemic and looking ahead to May to reschedule our luncheon. 

Well we all know how that went and so we kept doing virtual hugs and imagining how incredible it would be to be together in person again.

Kelly was vaccinated in January because she works in health care. She told me that as soon as I was vaccinated we could meet for lunch. 'Anytime you're ready,' she kept reminding me.

As I struggled with whether or not get the vaccine, all I could think about was getting together for lunch with Kelly again and being able to experience life to the fullest.

Seventeen months later we had our reunion in the parking lot at the Cheesecake Factory in Chestnut Hill experiencing one of the longest and tightest hugs I can remember in a very long time.

I made a reservation to eat outside but as we walked into the restaurant, we saw that the tables and booths were covered after the morning rain. There was a big sign that the restaurant had put in a new air filtration system, asked unvaccinated patrons to wear masks and all staff wore masks. We looked at one another and agreed we would be fine.

I know there have been a lot of complaints in the news about service at restaurants but the staff at the Cheesecake Factory were genuinely happy to be there. Our waitress' eyes smiled with delight as we explained to her we were sorry we took so long to order because this was our reunion lunch.

I scanned the restaurant to see that we were in the first booth and the booths across the aisle were socially distanced from us. I quickly let my fear dissolve as Kelly and I became engrossed in conversation.

Whenever we get together, no matter how much time has passed, I am in awe of how much we have in common and how in sync we are with our world view. It's so incredible to meet in person and get the stories behind the stories that stream on social media.

We genuinely love and care about each other and listen to each other with rapt interest. It's incredibly special to be able to share whatever is deep in your heart with another who greets it with total love and compassion.

It was my first time eating indoors at a restaurant since the pandemic and I'm so blessed and grateful I got to share the experience with Kelly. There is news about uptick in cases around Massachusetts, hot beds of cases around the country and the globe but I know how the immune system gets a boost whenever love flows. 

Two and half hours later the waitress brought our check. I wasn't fast enough to grab it from Kelly.

"Come on," I said. "The last time we had lunch you treated and said I could get it next time. This is next time."

"Well I lied," she said and we both laughed.

"You'll get it next time," she said.

"Noooo don't say that. COVID could come back."

"Oh stop it" she said with love and laughter.

It did speak to the lingering anxiety from what transpired since we last had lunch together.

We took out our phones and scheduled our next lunch date in a month. 

We had the longest goodbye in the parking lot hugging each other, letting each other know how much we love each other and hugging each other as though it could be the last time. Of course it won't be and as soon as I got home I made a follow up reservation for August.

Seventeen months later was a long time to not be able to chat or hug in person but those two and a half plus hours sharing lunch, laughter, tears and hugs was well worth the wait and getting those shots in the arm.

From my heart to yours
In health and wellness,
Mary

Visit my website to learn more about my journey of transformation in the wake of paralytic polio and trauma to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond.

Be sure to listen to my recent conversation with Liz Brunner, award winning journalist, now CEO of Brunner Communications on her podcast Live Your Best Life. I share how I live my best life despite the challenges that I faced at an early age.

For all of my recent appearances, be sure to visit my News and Events tab on my website.

My books to inspire and uplift you are available on Amazon.