Dear Elizabeth, It is 3:30 in the morning and I’m sitting on the couch trying to put Molly to sleep. Through the slits in the blinds I’m watching the wind blow the snow through the neighborhood. Molly is cuddled close to me, staring at my with her big owl-like eyes. She has no interest in sleeping right now. She just stares and sucks her pacifier. At time like this, I wonder what she’s thinking.
I’ve been meaning to write you for some time but three kids keep Marathon Girl and I very busy. It seems like there’s always two of them that need something. And when all three of them are fussy or having a hard day, sometimes I wish that, for a few minutes, life would just consist of Marathon Girl and me. Don’t misunderstand. I wouldn’t trade my kids or my time with them for anything. One day they’re going to be grown up with lives of their own and I know I’ll look back on these times and long for the days when I could cuddle with Molly on my lap and see the joyful looks on the boys’ faces when I come home from work.
I appreciated the email you sent me and the family the week before Christmas and the happy and sad memories it brought back. It’s been years since I thought about that long hearse ride to the cemetery and you leaning on my shoulder from sadness and exhaustion. It’s hard to believe that all that happened five years ago. It’s also strange to think I’d be married to Krista eight years if she hadn’t died. Sometimes those days and memories seem so far away like they happened a different life time ago. I guess in some ways they did.
Marathon Girl is running again. She always does better when she can run. Right now her mileage is short – three or four miles a day – but within the next 30 days she’ll up the mileage and start training for the Ogden or Salt Lake marathons. We’re unsure at this time which one she will run. We’re also looking at other marathons in late summer early fall outside the state that she might want to run too.
I’ve been making the push the last few weeks to time my runs in the morning. I thought that if I concentrated on speed for a little bit that I’d be able to keep up with Julie. I’ve been able to shave nearly a minute a mile off my time since Christmas. It’s not enough. Already Marathon Girl running faster than me. (She just had a baby six weeks ago!) She ran three miles yesterday and beat my best three mile time by two minutes. The woman is an amazing runner. My only wish is that I could run with her. But the weather and my work schedule does not allow for that right now. Hopefully, after the weather warms, I’ll be able to run with her on Saturdays again.
After her runs Marathon Girl comes home and does crunches. (Her stomach is looking great, BTW.) Aidan thinks crunches are cool and tries to imitate them. It’s so fun to watch him struggle to do things as well as his mom. What a fun kid.
At work, one of the things they always ask is if you’re a person that loves his or her life. If you do not love your life, what can you change about yourself and how you’re living so that you can love it again? I think about this from time to time and realize how much I do love my life. I don’t mean to imply that I’m perfect because there are many things that I still need to work on. But I’m trying to do the right things. The Lord has blessed me so much with a beautiful and understanding wife and three wonderful kids. I really do love my life. I wouldn’t trade it or any of my experiences for anything. I feel so blessed to live the life I have lived.
I will write you more tomorrow. I need to give you an update about my book as I have both good and bad news about it. I hope the holidays treated your family as well as they treated mine. My eyes are heavy and I need to put Molly, who is now sleeping peacefully in my arms, to bed.
Abel