My apologies for a delay in updating my blog. My kids have been sick. I think everyone’s children have been sick; it’s just that time of year. Thankfully, we did not have the flu- but we had everything else it seems.

However, as I mentioned in my earlier blog, there are always hidden blessings when life does not go as planned, and despite the germs, we have done some celebrating in our house. My husband and I celebrated our anniversary; and my son celebrated finishing his first 5K “run”.

I use the word “run” loosely. It was a “race” that his school held and all of his friends were doing it, so he wanted to as well. But let me take a step back and tell you two things: 1) his friends spent the fall semester preparing for this race in an after school program called Junior Joggers, and 2) my son is not a runner. He can hit a baseball; he can stop most goals in soccer; he can shoot a three-point shot. But I always say, it’s a good thing he can hit and shoot, because he can not run. Yet he did - and he didn’t.

He ran the first 100 yards of the 5K and was done. DONE. His friends kept running, but he and I walked. We walked and we talked. We talked about coming in last (which we did - well, he didn’t…he came in 2nd to last; I came in last); we talked about not being good at everything; we talked about supporting your friends and teammates. These were big topics for a 7-year-old who was sad that all his friends were faster than he was, yet they were great life-lessons for all of us. And he never gave up. I was so proud of him for not once asking to stop. (Even when I said, “Are you sure you want to finish?” He looked at me like I was crazy - yet I was just afraid everyone would have gone home by the time we crossed the finish line.)

I was wrong. With that same 100 yards left to go, we turned a corner and saw all his friends - long finished with their race - standing there and cheering for him until he crossed the finish line. It was the biggest smile I had seen in a long time - through my own tears of pride. Pride in my son for not giving up. Pride in his friends for being good friends. And pride in our school and community for raising leaders by example. Last place was something to celebrate.