The finish line was one of the highlights of my life. This may or may not indicate that I have no life. Nonetheless it was awesome. It never dawned on me that I might cry. But at mile 25 as I rounded the corner and saw the crowds and heard the cheers I was overcome with some kind of euphoric emotion. I warned Jesus (aka Beau) to just ignore me if I started crying. I knew I couldn’t explain it and I preferred my group just pretend it wasn’t happening.
The end was great, but all I could think about was finding my family. I knew they were there but I couldn’t see them as I crossed and I couldn’t find them anywhere. I finally spotted Judi and the kids. Mia had made the best sign ever! I am pretty sure she was more proud of the sign then she was of me – which is as it should be.
Finally I saw my man and I was immediately confused. What was the ginormous bag he was carrying? I'll admit my first thought was, "Please tell me that's not a man-purse."
I realize lots of freaks come out to things like this but I didn’t want my husband to be one of them. This was my day after all.
After another glance I realized that it wasn’t a European carry-all, it was a camera bag. A really nice camera bag. And what was that huge, gorgeous, awesome thing around his neck? It looked like a camera. A real camera. The kind of camera I have dreamed of and longed for for years now.
I thought it odd that he might borrow someone’s really nice camera to take to the finish line but maybe he was so proud of me that he couldn’t help himself.
I was so proud of me that I had no shame, maybe he was too.
So I asked him, “Who’s camera did you borrow?”
“It’s yours,“ he said, “Congratulations. I’m so proud of you.”
And this was my exact reaction, with little bits of a cheeseburger in my mouth and all:
And then I kind of forgot about my own awesomeness. I kept thinking about how blessed I am to be married to this man who loves me, supports me, tolerates me, raises our children with me, prays with me, indulges me, surprises me and empowers me.
I felt so complete. 
13 comments:
I love that last picture. And of course, the one you took with your new fancy camera of Andy and Mia. I'm so proud of you still! You've got some determination, girl.
I'm so proud of you too! I'm sure it's an awesome feeling of accomplishment....way to go. And, I'm jealous of your new camera!
Awesomeness!! i love how you told your story! i cried and laughed through all of it! you inspire me!
Wonderful post as always! Will there be a day after the race post? How did you feel on Monday? Besides still excited about the "man purse" and it's purpose and contents :)
Precious! I love that story. You could probably get paid to promote the Marathon.
If you don't stop you I am going to be inspired to try this...and after I get excited about it and train for one day I will give up and feel like a loser...
LOVED the story - true Summer fashion (although I was expecting some sort of medical emergency along the way, resucing a small animal from a tree, something like that). :) And I'm looking forward to seeing some pics of those adorable kids with the new camera.
Fabulous! Is there a part 4?
He did it again! He is so thoughtful it's disgusting!
Congratulations, again!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Thanks for sharing your story!
Wow! It is so awesome that you did the marathon! You should be so proud of yourself. That is an amazing accomplishment. Good job to the husband on the thoughtful gift.
I'm such a sap, but really... I got a little teary eyed during this post. Ha! Such a sweet husband, and CONGRATS on the marathon. That's AWESOME!
Yay on finishing the race and yay for your new camera! I think i would totally cry the last mile too. There's just something inspiring about completing such a big challenge. You're amazing!
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