We’re In!

A couple months ago Dave and I decided that both Hope and Andrew should join us in the Riverbank Run (25k=15.5 mi) next spring. This delighted both kids—and sent Hope to the treadmill! After she put in over 20 miles in the basement last week, Dave and I considered the next step…and signed up the four of us for a MARATHON next spring, one month after the Riverbank Run! Yes, that is a whole 26.2 miles to be run consecutively by four Fathmans with three cheerleading girls to root us on. J

As a side note, I am still healing from my foot surgery last summer, I have not run for weeks due to bronchitis, and marathon training takes a LOT out of a busy homeschooling mom’s schedule (heck, out of anyone’s schedule!)…but the marathon bug bit my dear husband and the kids’ interest were the rational to doing it now…I feel like a deer in the headlights but what can I say? We’re in this, and we’re doing it together.

What a great place to be!

Anyone interested in cheering us on this spring???

PS Although it will be in Massachusetts, my eldest will also be embarking on a run of a different sort: a “Muddy Buddy”, which blends 12 miles of running with multiple obstacles, mixing with ample mud, of course. I don’t jest when I say that the running stores received a large percentage of my husband’s paycheck this week… J Any east-coasters are welcome to root for Austin!

All my best,

Amy

Just Not Enough

This week Hope and I were talking about her recent love for running.  This beautiful girl, as recent as last year, HATED running with a passion. Now she hits the treadmill on a regular basis for 6-12 miles, sometimes even upping the grade to 12%! Although I never pushed running on her, she has gleaned this love from me (and her goals from her coach.) We were bantering back and forth when she grabbed my arm and told me how cool it would be if I was her bio mom. I didn’t know what to say, but she had words enough for both of us. She went on and on how much she wished I would be her bio mom—I told her that although she didn’t grow in my belly she grew in my heart, and she is more like me than some of my bios!

This has been bouncing around in my head the past few days. I am deeply touched that she wants to be my bio child—but at the same time, I am saddened because I can never be the mom that she deeply desires and needs. No child should have to endure being “given up” by their mother—made worse by the fact that her past is shrouded in secrecy. I can strive to be the best mom for her, but even on my best day, I am still, not the bio.

Even if I can’t be what she desires, I am still blessed to be what she needs…today…tomorrow…and every day I am blessed with her.

All my best,

Amy