Sunday, September 30, 2007

Be Strong

Phase II - Regressive Count - Week Nine
09/24/07 - 09/30/07
Week Total: 6.8

Last Sunday my daughter Alejandra and I learned that one of her best friends tragically died a few hours before. The world stopped for a while.

I know how hard this is and will be for Ale. I wanted desperately to be with my daughter, not as her running partner but as her companion. Long hours in the phone during the week was our only choice to be as close as we could be. Putting things in perspective, nothing was a priority but to mourn. Being
quiet, silent or crying at home. Running was put on the side.

My week should have logged 28 miles but I only ran 6.8 on Saturday. I did not care if I would complete my mileage this week, or if the only run was good or bad, or fast or slow, or if my heart rate was high or low.

Craig wrote in one of my posts that
"Running is the place where he processes thoughts and experiences and finds some clarity about life ." With that thought, my only run of the week was focus on life as is the most precious gift we have.

Life is short, but as my husband put it:
"life is beautiful, remember that when you get teary eyed. Cling to what you have, not to what you can't change."

Ale, my daughter, I adore you. Be strong. Treasure all the beautiful moments you shared with Veronica. Treasure them forever.

Veronica, you'll always be in the hearts of all you touched, especially your friends for 15 years from Kindergarten. God Bless Your Soul.


7 comments:

ShirleyPerly said...

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear the news. Indeed, life is short, shorter than it should be sometimes. When my dad died of cancer, I turned to running to help me deal with my grief. I have actually used it to sort out many things in my life. Hope this difficult time passes quickly for both you and your daughter.

lizzie lee said...

Thanks Shirley, thank you very much. I told my daughter that pain and sadness will always be in our hearts, but as we learn to accept the reality, the pain and sadness change in shape. It's been too hard for all these girls to try to cope with an absurd reality.

God Bless them and protect them. It's all I pray for.
lizzie

JeffM said...

Sorry to hear about your daughter's friend. You have a great outlook and sentiments in your post. Good luck.

Maddy said...

I'm sorry for the loss and the pain you and your daughter are feeling.

Running can help with that, but sometimes it can be hard to get started when you are feeling sad.

As Shirley said, hopefully this passes quickly.

Anonymous said...

My prayers are with you and your daughter as you work through this time of loss. I can relate to the path you are walking in these days.

Susan said...

I am so sorry to hear of this tragic loss.

If I ever have a daughter, I hope we are as close as you and yours. :)

Susan

ShirleyPerly said...

Thank you, Lizzie, for sharing your experiences and thoughts on running safety. I consider myself very lucky to have been running alone for so long with no actual harm done to me (two near-attacks but I escaped both times). But times have changed and it's not worth it any more. I will be making some definite changes. Thanks again.