Why I'm walking....

This weekend, I'll be walking in two different 5K races.

The Color Run  is just for fun. It's The Happiest 5K on the planet! Priscila and I will walk with a group of her friends. You walk, run, dance and at each mile marker you get colored.

The Walk to Defeat ALS is for real.  We will all walk this one - kids, parents, grandparents, friends. Many people are collecting donations to help fund research so someone can find a cure.  Some are walking it to honor a loved one.  Some are prayer walking it.  Some are walking or riding because they have ALS.

This morning, while I was pushing Claire around the ponds, I was thinking about the races and why I was walking...

I’m walking because I can. Because my legs still work and my lungs still work.  Because I can still talk and swallow and breath.  My grandfather, Don Couch, and my mother-in-law, Delight Petersen, couldn't do those things.  So I walk for them, in defiance of a disease that slowly deteriorated their body and trapped their fully functioning minds inside.  I walk for them, because they couldn't.

I’m walking for their beloved caretakers. My grandmother, Nell Couch, and my Father-in-law, Bill Petersen. I want to honor their sacrifice of love, time, energy, tears and heartache. They couldn’t fix it. But they gave all they had to the love of their life while their best friend withered before their eyes.

I’m walking for those who are struggling through this disease right now. They will be there, walking and riding along side us. Holding on to precious moments that are slipping away faster and faster than they can see. They are still holding on to a thread of hope… that somehow this is all a nightmare and they will wake up soon.

I’m walking for us. For all the loss we’ve felt. For all the times we sacrificed and begged and pleaded and cried and hoped and someone died anyway. And our broken hearts haven't recovered yet – but we still make it through our days. We are in this together.

I’m walking, because I can.