November 27, 2015

What the Turkey Trot means to me…

Sometimes you have to experience the inability to do something in order to appreciate having the ability, or even to have a desire to do it when you are able to. That’s what the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning means to me.

This morning I ran in my local Turkey Trot’s 10K, and I literally almost started crying a few times along the course. Not because of discomfort, but rather from a place of deep gratitude. I grew up with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, which meant that I was unable to be very active as a child, and definitely couldn’t run because it affected my right knee the most. It would go into remission from time to time, but eventually it got to a point where I couldn’t even walk without limping when I was in 5th grade. My parents thought I’d end up in a wheelchair. I was too young to think about long-term effects.

By the grace of God, I have been arthritis-free for over 10 years now, which is a whole other story in itself. I took up jogging/walking as a form of exercise around that time, really just because I could. It was almost like a rebellious thing because I hadn’t been able to for so much of my life. It didn’t mean a whole lot to me then, but I found satisfaction in doing it and enjoyed reaching new goals, like making it 1/4 mile without stopping to walk. (In the beginning I could barely make it 20 feet!) I did my first Turkey Trot when I was in my early 20’s. It was the 1 mile course, and I had to walk a good portion of it. Over the past year I have become more aware of how blessed I am to have the ability to do the things that I was once unable to do, that I could have possibly never had the ability to do, and I have become increasingly grateful for the opportunities that I now have.

The 10K course of my local Turkey Trot has always passed my parents’ street where I grew up. Last year was the first year that I did the 10K and they were at the end of their street watching me, as they were again this year. And as I ran past them this morning, I again felt overwhelmingly grateful that my parents, who thought I would end up in a wheelchair as a child, have been given the opportunity to watch me run a 10K in my 30’s. (I’m even thankful for this video my mom took of my goofy self.)