A Run Down Memory Lane

I took a run this past weekend on a well worn path from my past.  It brought back lots of memories and was just as nice as I remember it being.  If you are a walker or a runner you probably have your favorite routes.  I am a creature of habit when it comes to my exercise routines.  I map out a path of about 3 or 4 miles and have shortcuts for those "easy" days and long cuts for the "challenge" days.  I usually have two or three different routes from my house, wherever that house happens to be.  I have them here in Sugar Land, I had other paths when we lived here last time, I had my routes in Toronto and I had them in Columbus, Ga when we lived there.  They all  hold a special place in my heart because I do a lot of thinking when I run or walk, so it isn't just about the exercise.

This past weekend we were back in Columbus, Georgia.  I found myself drawn to take a run almost as soon as we got into town.  The beautiful fall weather and travelling for 7 or 8 hours might have had something to do with my need to get some exercise!  I got my iPod and drove to one of my all time favorite places to run, Cooper Creek Park.  We used to live a block from this park and I spent many hours walking and running the paths around that park.  I had happy runs, sad runs, cold runs, hot runs, easy runs, challenging runs, wet runs, runs I wish would never end and ones I could not get through fast enough (or slow enough in my case).  I watched my kids run cross country races on those paths.  Wow, it was a very nostalgic trip around the park for me, I must be getting old!  I also had a personal challenge to see if I could make it all the way around the park without stopping, like I used to when I was younger and thinner.....I made it!  Won't say it was easy, but it was not as hard as it could have been.  I cued up one of my old running mixes on the iPod and had an excellent run down memory lane! 

Did I mention the beautiful fall weather?

We visited with old friends and picked up like it was last week instead of a year or two ago when we last saw them.  When you live in one place for 11 or 12 years and raise four children in a small close knit community, you make a lot of friends... close friends.  Thank goodness we still get to visit them every now and then.  And thank goodness they keep welcoming us back!


Indulge me one more paragraph....

We went to mass at our old church this weekend too.  As I knelt and sat, listened, sang and prayed, I found myself thinking of all the masses we attended in that church.  Twelve years of Sunday masses, countless school masses, the occasional daily mass, 3 graduations and baccalaureates, four 8th grade graduations, 4 Confirmations, two First Communions and First Reconciliations, plus weddings and funerals for friends, it boggles the mind!  That is a lot of praying and thinking in one place!  I know there are a lot of people who have gone to the same church for almost their entire lives, do they appreciate what they have?  What a special place that church has in our lives, it saw us through good times and bad.  It was very cool to just sit and think about all of the praises and problems we handed over to God at that church during our time in Columbus.  Amen!

We were more than happy to visit!