"Don't let the fat chick beat you"?

I have been racing for about 5 years now. I am not a typical runner or even triathlete. I fight with serious medical conditions every step of the way, but each step makes me stronger. I have two boys both with special needs and I have learned to chalk that up to making me stronger as well.


It is with sad heart that I must report that lupus has won the battle this year, but trust me when I say the war is far from over! My racing days are not over by any stretch of the imagination. This is just a minor setback that will make me stronger.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Happy Birthday Carin





Today Carin would have been seven years old. I got her while I was stationed in Germany within a week or so of getting back from Iraq. I remember I was watching TV and there was some memorial thing going on and I just broke into tears and here is this little puppy trying her damndest to climb up on the couch. She finally made it up and started off sitting at the opposite end, before long she had inched her way into my lap and started licking the tears away. During the same time I found out that one of my buddies died while he was in Iraq (I left early due to an injury), thank God there was an information leak. I found out before I was sitting in an auditorium full of complete strangers. When I got the news Carin wiggled her way next to me and made it very clear she was there for me. Over the short years I had her in my life she was my friend, my companion and my child. August last year she lost her battle with kidney disease. I know she held on for as long as she could. But the last 24 hours must have been a nightmare for her. We ended up in the puppy ER on Sunday, there was no question that it was almost time. I refused to leave her there so they could “run tests”. We brought her home that night and made sure there was no question in her. She was permitted to eat whatever she pleased (she had been on a low protein diet for well over a year), she got chocolate and raisins and I am sure I would have given her my most expensive running shoes had she have asked! The next morning I call out vet and I kept her in my arms until after her last breath.




Happy birthday to my little girl. You will also be in my heart!

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