Farewell Grandma
Last week, my dad’s side of the family lost their matriarch, Janyce, to a long fight with senile dementia (very much like Alzheimer’s Disease). She was 86. While there is some joy to be had in knowing that her suffering is now over, she will be missed immensely and her departure has left our family with many a heavy heart.
I received the news on Monday morning, and managed to make arrangements at work and fly out to Philly on Tuesday. My bags, thanks to American Airlines, didn’t arrive until early Thursday morning, leaving me to consider the unpleasant possibility as serving as a pallbearer dressed in three-day old jeans and t-shirt. Thankfully, I recovered the baggage and disaster was narrowly averted.
The funeral Mass was well attended and very touching. The monsignior gave a wonderful homily - he related the story of a modern-day saint who was asked on her deathbed what her advice would be for living a full life. Her reply was ‘Imagine yourself on your deathbed, as I am. Think of any regrets you may have or things you wished you’d done. Do them now, while you’re able, so you can rest with a clear conscience when your time comes.’ It was one of the best funeral homilies I ever heard and a bit of wisdom I’ll be calling on for motivation in future races. My dad gave the eulogy, reminiscing on things that would remind him of his mother’s memory and leaving our family as her legacy.
I returned to LA on Friday, 6 hours late, thanks again to American Airlines. It will take a lot of wrongs undone for me to fly on that airline again. Due to the lost baggage and other delays, I missed a few midweek workouts which I’ve been trying to make up this weekend and during the usual light Monday. If anything, this week has taught me to be extrememly flexible with the workout schedule, and to see the training as a volume of work to be done rather than to stress out about the timing of individual workouts. After all, there’s no use to negate the positive benefits of the tri lifestyle by being stressed out about it all the time.
