I graduated from Brandon High school in 1992. When blue eyeliner and Aquanet were part of your morning routine right before you pegged your pants listening to Culture club on your boom box.
Even though we graduated together we never really new one another until almost 20 years later. 2011, I was running my first Boston Marathon with about 30,000 runners. I was fidgeting with my watch and asking a stranger for our pace when I heard this soft voice "ANITA...Anita...…" I looked behind me and there was Danielle! We ran together to about mile 15, catching up and hoping to continue to see each other....
Danielle is one of the kindest souls I know. We have shared many miles together and together many injuries together! I am so grateful God put her in my path all those years ago.
You will enjoy her words! She gives such beautiful detail to this quarantined life.
When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. Gilbert K Chesterton
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| Danielle has always wanted to run with me no matter the pace, sick or healthy she always makes me feel loved. |
Quarantine tip#1
The biggest thing my entire family has learned over these 8 weeks of quarantine is to never take the smallest thing for granted. I guess that goes along with Anita’s nugget of gratitude. We have used this time to stop and smell the roses - or lilacs, or honeysuckle, or whatever flowering item we happen to run or drive by. Like many families, our “normal” lives were filled to the brim with work, school, running, coaching, track practice, robotics, etc etc etc. We loved these activities, but at the same time you realize that some days, you have forgotten to stop and look around. Today, I enjoy the extra time walking the dogs with my husband in the morning before he “commutes” to our den to work from home. I enjoy a cup of tea on our porch or deck while I watch the birds and animals frolic in the backyard. I have had the joy of running with my teenage daughter multiple times a week. This has become our time to “talk” about life, lessons learned, whatever is on a 14 year old girls mind! We have had the distinct honor of MORE time with our son, who like Alec, is a senior. Usually this time of year is filled with so much activity for a senior who is about to graduate. Yes, it is sad that seniors have missed out on many of their “lasts” of so many things. For us, it’s a chance to have deep conversations with our children, to hold onto that last shred of childhood before our son spreads his wings into adulthood and leaves the nest. We value dinner at the table with conversations about our day and the world’s events. We learn from each other. We listen, we communicate, we play games, we have watched the trees and flowers bloom. We miss our family and friends, but we get to see them virtually, and in some cases more often than before. Through it all, we have learned to value our relationships, our activities such as (gasp,dare I say it!) school, sports teams, robotics, going out for ice cream, the mundane day to day activities that you don’t realize you really do take for granted until you have to consciously and strategically plan to do these items. It hasn’t all been easy, but we have learned to slow down just a little and enjoy every single moment.
Danielle~
Such great words!! Thank YOU Danielle for sharing!
Anita~
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