You Can’t Make this Stuff Up
After a platelet donation at the Red Cross the other day I was offered refreshments by an older gentleman. When I sat down to drink his OJ and polish of a rejuvenating Krispy Kreme, he joined me.
He told me he hadn’t worked for money in 24 years, and that he had been a volunteer at the Red Cross for 20. He retired from the City as a manager in charge of issuing various business licenses. As I stuffed doughnut in my face he explained that he and his wife raised 2 sets of twin grand-kids. It seems his daughter was not fit to be much of a mother and could not care for her 4 children, so he took them in.
Now this is where he got me. One pair of twins is girls. One of the twins from this set lives here with 3 kids and the other lives in Florida. Recently the Florida twin had her 2nd miscarriage, so the Portland twin went to visit. Apparently after a miscarriage there is a procedure to clean out the uterus and the Florida twin postponed the procedure due to the Portland sister’s visit. When she eventually went in for the procedure they did a pregnancy test and found that she had been pregnant with twins and that only one had miscarried.
It was his understanding that the second, surviving child may not have been detected if the procedure had not been delayed. She is now looking forward to her first baby and expects her grandparents to be in Florida for the birth.
I guess he won’t be offering me juice this summer.
He told me he hadn’t worked for money in 24 years, and that he had been a volunteer at the Red Cross for 20. He retired from the City as a manager in charge of issuing various business licenses. As I stuffed doughnut in my face he explained that he and his wife raised 2 sets of twin grand-kids. It seems his daughter was not fit to be much of a mother and could not care for her 4 children, so he took them in.
Now this is where he got me. One pair of twins is girls. One of the twins from this set lives here with 3 kids and the other lives in Florida. Recently the Florida twin had her 2nd miscarriage, so the Portland twin went to visit. Apparently after a miscarriage there is a procedure to clean out the uterus and the Florida twin postponed the procedure due to the Portland sister’s visit. When she eventually went in for the procedure they did a pregnancy test and found that she had been pregnant with twins and that only one had miscarried.
It was his understanding that the second, surviving child may not have been detected if the procedure had not been delayed. She is now looking forward to her first baby and expects her grandparents to be in Florida for the birth.
I guess he won’t be offering me juice this summer.
posted by Jason Hill at 12:01 AM
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So remember a while back when I was talking about my new van that was going to be the perfect roadtrip rig? And how upon returning from the sweet roadtrip to Wyo and Montana I was going to sell it? Well, I still have it. Yup, it’s been 2.5 months and that 4-wheeled, piece of family-toting joy is still in my driveway.
The first few miles of a marathon are a kick. Thousands of people, fresh legs, and cool weather make it hard to stick to a slow pace. We were constantly reminding each other to keep the pace down. At mile 1.5 we got our first encouragement from our very own cheering section, Anne & Brian Diedrich, Darren & Stephanie Nielan, and Christa Hill. (Later we would see Nancy and Cameron Jones.)
Seeing friendly faces in the crowd is like being greeted at the airport after a long trip.
Next, the crew moved to a spot near 12 miles and waited for us to appear. We spent miles 6 through 11 on a dull out and back in NW industrial Portland. Our pace was lightened as we passed a praise band: Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, Your love makes me sing!
The next section took us past Montgomery Park and then out highway 30 to the St John's Bridge. We passed the time by convincing each other that we could certainly run 2 more miles. And at one point, Shawn had to break it to me that my math that had figured there would only be a 10k-to-go after we reached mile 18 was wrong, and the 10k-to-go mark didn't hit until mile 20.
Our old running buddy Jimmy Young appeared in a few miles and ran with us for about 3--not bad considering he had to run back to his car! His energy was appreciated. It was during this section along the bluff, and leading to the Steel Bridge for the finish, that wheels came off. All of the major muscles in my legs began to cramp. Quads, hamstrings, and calves all let me know that I was pushing them well beyond their ability to perform. I was forced to walk much of the last 4 miles. Shawn choose to sacrifice his finish time to stay with me. I cannot think of a more self-less gesture and I am touched by his friendship. His encouragement and patience meant a lot to me out there.
