I woke up today like most
other days. Groggy. I silently took roll call of my body parts to
see if they were all in sync with the idea of getting up…and it was unanimous…
all my parts were on board. Yea! It’s
the little things. After a few bodily stretches, I lifted off the
bed, and sought out gym shorts and t-shirt, the official retirement dress code
of this guy.
I went through a few of the
rooms of the house, opening “it’s eyes” to another day, as the curtains and
blinds gave way to the morning light.
Made my way to my Kashi stash and prepared a bowl to wake my innards
up. And while waiting for the
appropriate time to let my 2% soften the flakes of goodness, I latched on to my
laptop to check Greg’s status on the Tour Divide (see June postings). I was relieved to see that he did not pedal
through the night.
Some 1829 miles to the east
of Greg, in Charlotte, NC, my niece, Grace, has already woken (if she slept at
all) to a special day, and was in the first moments, of her first professional
career day, after graduating from Clemson, a mere 2 months earlier in May. I was so excited to find all this out from
her momma, in an email this morning. I
partake in my family’s lives, even though I’m not there (hope that doesn’t
creep anyone out), through emails, texts, sporadic in person contact, and
sometimes a vivid imagination.
When I checked Trackleaders.com for Greg’s position
this morning, he had a mere 68 miles left before reaching Antelope Wells, NM,
the finish line for The Tour Divide, a mere 2,700 miles from the starting line
in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Like many of
Greg’s athletic supporters (HaHa), I get online to check his progress multiple
times a day. I partook in his adventure
by dropping him off in Banff and then proceeded to will him from waypoint to
waypoint with a vivid imagination. I choose
to believe the collective willing of his well-wishers pushed him along at
times…knowingly or unknowingly to him at the time.
As Grace starts up her
learning curve these first few days, probably not that different than some of
the mountain passes Greg ascended along the continental divide over the last 30
days, she may be reliving her last hoorah with her sister last month in Europe,
or moving into her dorm room her first year at Clemson, or driving to high
school the first time after getting her license in search of her parking
spot. Actually, I’ll bet she is so
focused on all that is new to her today, that the other stuff would be lucky to
appear in a dream, when she falls dead asleep tonight at 8, with a reality show
on and a pizza crust hanging from her lip!
The day that Grace begins one
adventure, Greg ends another. As Grace
crosses her starting line, her well-wishers will collectively support her from
their vantage point and push her along when the going gets tough and celebrate
her summiting those tough peaks along the way.
She is starting a new collection of adult
life memories to add to her rich and full body of work she has created so
far. Whereas, Greg will be processing
his month of memories on the trail for some time to come. Probably grateful to be sitting on something
wider than a banana for the ride back to Dillon, taking a little more time to feel an embrace with Susi, and better
connection between man and dog, when Bailey looks into her daddy’s eyes looking for a good belly rub. So proud of Grace and Greg, I celebrate your
beginnings and endings.
What is ending and beginning
for you? Whatever they might be, welcome
your beginnings and hug your endings. Don’t
fight’em, join’em.
One more plug for Greg’s cause to raise money to
connect
bicycles with vets dealing with PTSD…
www.gofundme.com/vvuugc
His goal is one dollar for every Tour Divide mile he
rode.
He is close, but you can get him
closer!
