formerly phread: 9

For the month of November I’ve decided to post each day about a person or people who have influenced my life for good. There’s no way I could include each and every person in one month or even one year, and for that I hope you’ll forgive me. This year, especially, has brought an acute awareness of the kindness and generosity which surrounds me and my kids, so here’s one attempt at giving thanks.

9 – Amy

I like any chance I get to talk with Amy. She’s tiny, she’s tough…in fact, she’s so tough, she may or may not be part Honey Badger.

If you want something done thoroughly you want Amy to do it. I’ve watched her at girls camp over the years and been so impressed by what she had prepared for the girls, things I never would have thought of in a million years.

Speaking of girls camp, Amy and I challenge ANY ONE OF YOU (and by one I of course mean two) TO A CANOE RACE. WE WILL WIN EVERY TIME.

And speaking of racing…Amy’s the one who taught me two critical things: how to run, and how to eat.

She was training for Boston yet took the time to run sloooooowly with my sorry arse. I couldn’t run a mile or two without stopping, and she didn’t yell at me or let me get away with anything, but she did tell me I could do it. And I really, really didn’t want to disappoint her.

She gave me menus with options and taught me to prepare my meals for a few days in advance. With this and with the running, she always let me know I could do whatever I wanted. It was this attitude that caused a shift in my thinking. She was right, she isn’t the boss of me. She handed me the tools, I could decide whether or not I wanted them, but I was the one who had to do it.

There was that time we brought our Magic Bullets to camp and burned out just about every fuse in every car there just so we could make our protein shakes. That was nice of us.

One of my favorite things ever was when I sent her a text on one of the first nights of what was then my new way of eating, at about 8:00 p.m. – ‘What about dessert?’ (I didn’t really want dessert, but I did think I had to eat.) Her reply – ‘Your gum is your dessert.’ I still laugh about that one.

She’s married to a guy I call Tuna. I guess he’s okay.

(Just joking, Aaron’s the greatest, and he’s fluent in sarcasm and teasing.)

I miss running with Amy, but sometimes I get to go to her cycling class (not often enough). If time weren’t a thing and the stars were aligned just so I’d work out with her all the time. It’s not so now, but I’m glad for the times we’ve been able to, and I hope it happens again. And sing together, too – it’s been too long.

Thanks, Amy. I love you.

#IHaveAwesomeFriends