Friday, May 9, 2008

Hi Mom!

It's what athletes say when you point the camera at them on the sidelines. Mom has been my biggest fan for as long as I can remember. Even when there hasn't been much to applaud.

I've never been an athlete. There were no games for her to attend, but Mom has driven thousands of miles over the years to see me play onstage. She has come to Kentucky and folded our laundry, done our grocery shopping, and embraced Mrs P like her own daughter. She even learned to love our cats which was a real stretch for her, trust me.

The people who love me have always had a rough road. For most of my life, I lived with an undiagnosed mental illness - a bipolar disorder that wasn't bad enough to keep me from functioning, but was severe enough to make me unpredictable, moody, and often irrational. I frequently lash out at those closest to me. Through all those years, Mom didn't know my condition had a name - she just knew it was the way I was and that was good enough for her. I was a lunatic, but I was her lunatic.

When my body got broken - flu, fractured bones, mono, knee surgery - Mom's was the cool, soft hand that felt my forehead, made me Jello and brought me books to read. When my heart was broken, Mom was the one who listened to the story, who wept with me, who always took my side.

We cut the apron strings many years ago, but the heart strings are strong as steel.

Mom isn't perfect but in spite of all the reasons I have given her over the years, Mom has never given up on me - and I have given up on myself many many times. She sees something in me that I can't see.

So this morning when I got the email that someone had pledged support for my part in the ADA StepOut on May 31, I didn't even really have to look to see who it was. She's still there in the audience - the crazy lady who buys tickets to every performance in the run and shows up for all of them. The one who puts the walnuts that my sister hates in the poppyseed cake because I'm coming home. The one who has taken grief and returned faithful love for almost 50 years.

Last night Mrs P volunteered to be my camera crew when I hoot my sponsors names at the Diabetes walk. You don't have to guess who will be getting the first hoot.

Hi Mom!

Happy Mother's Day.

Love,
bob

No comments:

Post a Comment

Label Cloud

mrs p Cancer running lifting weights LIVESTRONG at the YMCA treadmill weight nutrition depression God Living Strong at the Y injury YMCA dogs mom walking radiation Weight Lifting cardio friends program theatre body fat long slow run love One for the Five aches elliptical race resistance bands stretching 5K Acting Jeff Galloway chemo doctor family mental health Church Pittsburgh Marathon bluegrass fundraising inspiration patience personal trainer recovery Flying Pig Marathon Jesus Johns Striders Race Report Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon bipolar frustration kentucky knees measurements morning promatx yoga Christmas Marathon Pennsy's Greatest Hits cats clothes heart rate hope lance armstrong life molly poetry rest side effects steelers swimming 10K Actors' Guild of Lexington Blog CT Scan Coach Carrie PET Scan cross training exercise fear feeling good groin healing ice cream livestrong nausea powerlifting run/walk/run stair climber surgery Cancer Fighter Cold Gear Hills Iron Horse Half-marathon Job LSR Mum Nike+ Shamrock Shuffle 3K achilles advent arboretum bmi bodyweight exercises changes charity circuit training cycling dad deadlift diabetes encouragement experts give up goals horses interval training jake kettlebells lean body mass new rules of lifting pacing personal best plateau prayer recumbent bike research shoes sleep strength teeth therapist toe video Blood Easter Endurance Funeral Garmin 405 Homecoming House Insurance Juicing Keeneland Legacy Night PR Pennsyltucky Pittsburgh Relapse Run This Town TRX Training Values aflac arnold ben-gay bench press chafing christian compression shorts dentist dreams faith fat fatigue foreclosure good day half marathon hospitality javarunner john's run/walk shop lou schuler new year nurse pains peg tube powercage progressive resistance. racing rain rapture reboot runners world squat sun block supplements team pennsy tired weather will rogers work #3rightThings 9-11 ACSM AIDS Aquaphor Blessings Bluegrass 10K CSN Cancer Boy Cedar Hill Charles Dickens Class of 82 Classes Colby Road College Compassion Courage Crowdrise Cystoscopy Dee Diet EFM Epiphany Fall Fartlek Fat Man Fat Sick and Nearly Dead Frankfort Gadgets Gramma Grampa Gratitude Grete Waitz Guest HITT HIV Hell Holding Hands Holy Saturday Homer Horse Capital Marathon IVP Ice bath Jacuzzi James Taylor Jesus wept Joe Cross John Izzo Joy KY LaDonna Leg Day Lent Lessons Lexington Little Pennsy Mental hospital Midsummer Night's Run Mindfulness MobileFit Negative Splits Old Frankfort Pike Pilates Podrunner Pre-race Priorities RICE Railrunner 10 Miler Random thoughts Resurrection Reunion Run Bob Run Run Report Run Review Run for the Gold 3K Running Form Running for Sabrina STUPID Shakespeare Skip Brown Speed Spinning Summer Of Speed Sunrise Supersets Tao Te Ching Thank You The Wall Three Right Things Toxic Passenger UK UK basketball Urine Urologist Victory Walk of Shame Warrior Westminster Whole Foods Wind Words Zumba ace bandages addicted agony alwyn cosgrove america anger antibiotic anxiety awake back baseball blood clots blood pressure body glide bonhoeffer books brad calories chinup colonoscopy consistency crazy cycles dentures dip dr. google dumbbells elevation facebook failure farts feet fight for life fitness forgiveness frankenpennsy fun getting started glucosamine glutes goal gremlin grenz grumpy hair hamstrings hiccups high school hot ice incarnation indian food jogging john lennon joint legacy trail liniment lunges machines maker's mark mapmyrun.com medicine ball meds mercy motivation motley fool music nature neighborhood new balance nike noah numbers pennsyltuckian periodization persistence phlebitis postmodern prison professional boundaries progress psychiatrist pullups pushups quads ramble rememberance renewal road running ronnie coleman rowing safety sauna scan-ziety sexy shopping shorts shower sick sleepless snow socks spandex star trek statistics steam room steroids stiff strained muscle strap strength training supination support surgeon survive swackett swiss balls table technology tempo terry bradshaw testicular torsion text thai food that's fit the five thighs walk breaks warm up water fitness water jogging weak wedding ring wellness wife winter workout writing yardwork