Rejuvenated

January has been a tough month, as the busyness of the holidays and whirlwind of events came to a halt, and the reality of life without Granty was forced upon us.  Damon and I have been adjusting as well as can be expected, but we had definitely hit an emotional rut in the past couple of weeks.  This weekend was exactly what I needed....

As Alexa and I were flying back this afternoon, I sat back in the airline seat and felt completely rejuvenated by the weekend's events.  Not only was it great to visit with my sisters and friend Kathryn, but the run buoyed my spirits in so many ways.  The run itself has challenged me to increase the intensity of my training, but the most important elements were well-beyond the scope of the run.  The numerous texts and e-mails of encouragement were extremely motivating; it was nice to know so many people were cheering us on.  I was also moved by so many of the runners from the Columbines club - - I spoke to so many people who had come to the run specifically because of Granty's story.  Talk about a humbling experience.  One of the runners went out of her way to introduce me to each of the ladies in the club, and each time she introduced me as Terri's sister, but most importantly as "Grant's mom".  To hear that meant so much to me; I will never be able to adequately articulate how proud I am to be Granty's mom.

Speaking of motivating.....Congratulations and thanks to Granty's beloved Nurse Nichole (from our pediatrician's office) - - she ran the P.F. Chang's Rock-N-Roll Half-Marathon this morning in honor of Grant, and she bested her previous half-marathon times.  Yeah!  I'm looking very forward to future runs with Nichole!

I know little Granty's cheering us on.

Each of the runners received a giraffe headband;
I had to make sure everyone had a little reminder of Granty.