Taking him with you

Over the weekend, I ran in a local 5K race in Chestnut Hill.  I was expecting to have a quiet morning jog but was pleasantly surprised to see an acquaintance from work, and we ran/ walked the race together.  We talked a little about our experience with cancer (she is helping to nurse her best friend through the end stages of cancer) and I mentioned that I started running again for the Livestrong Challenge.  She remarked that it was so nice that I carried a bit of Dan with me. I tried to say no, that Dan LOATHED running almost as much as waking up early on a Saturday.  But she was right.   

This morning, when I woke up for my run, it was 38 degrees outside.  Brrrr! I reached for my warmer sweatshirts and grabbed this jacket:

Diz shows off his baseball from Uncle Dan.

It's a bright orange, warm running jacket.  Dan bought it for me for Christmas in 2009, which will always be the "plastic bag" Christmas.  That was the year Dan worked at Dick's Sporting Goods, so all of our gifts came from there.  What was amusing about the whole situation was that Dan did not actually wrap the gifts in paper.  Instead, on Christmas morning, Dan walked down the steps with a large bag full of... smaller bags.  When it was his turn to give a gift, Dan would say, "Close your eyes!" and toss a gift across the room into the recipient's lap.  (Thankfully, most of them were soft!) Dan teased me a bit about liking the "weirdest color ever" but said that he wanted me to be warm while I was wearing it.

I put on the jacket and "took Dan with me" for my morning run.  I thought a lot about that day this morning as I watched the stars, and it gave me a much-needed smile.  It's the stories like these that are going to help me during the next few months.

Christmas Tickles