Life Changing Moment
My years in San Diego were truly my moment in the sun, I felt. I was young, athletic, adventurous and shared many great memories with my fellow Marines at the recruit depot. I also believed that at any moment, I could be called off to war and might possibly never make it home again. That reconciliation caused me to live life to the fullest spending every free moment basking in the sun and surfing the beaches around southern California. I felt that becoming a Marine had the most profound impact on my life. I was wrong.
When I met my wife, I wasn't looking for a girlfriend. I wanted to be single for the rest of my life and live it as close as possible to the way I did as a young Marine in California. But love is love and you can't fight it. Eventually we married, bought a small house and my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I could say that that was the most profound moment of my life and people would understand, but no, I can't say it was. It was certainly the proudest moment of my life, but not profound.
Saturday night as I prepared my gear for the Kerr Lake Triathlon, my wife was getting things together as well. Breakfast bars, grapes, bananas, milk, juice, water, snacks, sandwiches, sunblock, diapers, wipes, etc. She had it all packed neatly in a tiny cooler and bag. With a blanket and wagon, she would be well equipped for her's and our daughter's portion of the triathlon. As I crossed the finish line, I saw my wife pop up from her blanket and apologize for missing the picture. She was giving out breakfast bars and juice and blowing bubbles with some kids of other triathlon wives. I didn't mind at all.
But, earlier on in the race when I was exiting T1, I heard something that worried me. The emergency cart was speeding up from the water preceded by shouts, "Out of the way! Out of the way!" Triathletes moved aside as the cart took someone to the ambulance. Then, I heard someone shouting, "Where are his kids?!?!" At first I was worried, but then assumed that maybe the man on the cart was asking for his kids.
I read on a news feed this morning that the man had died from a possible stroke. I copied the story and pasted it into a post and published it. Right below it was the picture of me and my daughter. I cried. What had been a great family outing for me and my family was tragedy for another. It wasn't right to keep that story up. People had already come to my blog via a search for it. I just couldn't keep it up.
I will go home tonight and hug my wife and daughter a little bit harder and a little bit longer than I have in a long time. All I did was run a triathlon yesterday and now I feel as if my life has been changed by someone I didn't even know. That is profound.
When I met my wife, I wasn't looking for a girlfriend. I wanted to be single for the rest of my life and live it as close as possible to the way I did as a young Marine in California. But love is love and you can't fight it. Eventually we married, bought a small house and my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I could say that that was the most profound moment of my life and people would understand, but no, I can't say it was. It was certainly the proudest moment of my life, but not profound.
Saturday night as I prepared my gear for the Kerr Lake Triathlon, my wife was getting things together as well. Breakfast bars, grapes, bananas, milk, juice, water, snacks, sandwiches, sunblock, diapers, wipes, etc. She had it all packed neatly in a tiny cooler and bag. With a blanket and wagon, she would be well equipped for her's and our daughter's portion of the triathlon. As I crossed the finish line, I saw my wife pop up from her blanket and apologize for missing the picture. She was giving out breakfast bars and juice and blowing bubbles with some kids of other triathlon wives. I didn't mind at all.
But, earlier on in the race when I was exiting T1, I heard something that worried me. The emergency cart was speeding up from the water preceded by shouts, "Out of the way! Out of the way!" Triathletes moved aside as the cart took someone to the ambulance. Then, I heard someone shouting, "Where are his kids?!?!" At first I was worried, but then assumed that maybe the man on the cart was asking for his kids.
I read on a news feed this morning that the man had died from a possible stroke. I copied the story and pasted it into a post and published it. Right below it was the picture of me and my daughter. I cried. What had been a great family outing for me and my family was tragedy for another. It wasn't right to keep that story up. People had already come to my blog via a search for it. I just couldn't keep it up.
I will go home tonight and hug my wife and daughter a little bit harder and a little bit longer than I have in a long time. All I did was run a triathlon yesterday and now I feel as if my life has been changed by someone I didn't even know. That is profound.
posted by TriDaddy at 7:24 PM
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