Thanking those that gave all!

Memorial Day is the time to remember our past and those that have protected us. It is a time to reflect on all the brave and unselfish military men and women who have served this country and  gave all so that we could be free.  The price of our freedom is not cheap and should not be taken lightly. All who have served deserve our thanks and gratitude.

Every year one of my local churches holds a large Memorial Day celebration. It started when they hosted the traveling replica of “The Wall”. The exhibit arrived before Memorial Day and stayed for a little over a week. You could visit "The Wall" at any time of day or night and there was always a volunteer there to help you find names or help you make a charcoal rubbing. I was so moved by my initial visit that I went back several times at different times of the day and night. I gave thanks and said prayers as I thought of all those brave people who gave all and the war that everybody hated. One of my good friends from high school had served in Vietnam on the front lines. He rarely talks about what happened there but every once in a while you get little tidbits of what it was like.

The congregation of this church was so moved by that first exhibit that they created their own memorial wall for the fallen soldiers  of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The "Freedom’s Heroes Outdoor Memorial" goes up two weekends before Memorial Day and stays up until the Tuesday after. The number of panels has grown over the years as the number of soldiers that gave all has grown. I visit it several times during those 10 days and am always amazed at the power of standing in front of it. They still have volunteers to help you find the names of the fallen and every year I cautiously ask about the people I know who serve in the military praying that their names will not be there. So far I have been lucky but another year has gone by.

I watched the panels and flags going up last Friday at the church so my yearly ritual of thanking those that gave all will be starting. Every year when I visit I stop at each panel, read a few names of the brave soldiers that gave all and say thank you. When I arrive at the last two panels I carefully read each name as they are the ones that have been added this last year. This great event reminds me of how complacent I have been about the real cost of freedom. Take a moment to say a pray for the fallen who gave all and their families as Memorial Day approaches. Remember to thank those that are still serving and protecting our priceless freedom. This Memorial Day make thanking those that served our great country and gave all part of your positively healthy choices everyday.

If you would like more information about this great Northern California event celebrating Memorial Day visit   http://www.cccyc.net. On the website visit Freedom’s Heroes Outdoor Memorial and “A Grateful Nation Remembers”. You can also visit their Facebook page about the event called A Grateful Nation Remembers. 
 https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/agratefulnationremembers

A lesson from the scary spare room, touch things only once.

Organizing experts will tell you that the best way to eliminate clutter is to only touch things once. If you pick something up deal with it now and not later because later never seems to happen. Since I have not followed this rule things have accumulated and accumulated in my spare room. This is the room where all things without a home go to stay temporarily. Unfortunately once they arrive in that room they seldom ever leave. It is out of sight and out of mind until that one day when the room has become so scary it must be dealt with.

Some of the items came to be in that room from other cleaning projects because I just didn’t know what to do with them. My idea was to just leave them there temporarily so that I could finish cleaning a different room and then I would find them a home. But low and behold a year or more later they are still there sadly looking for a new home. There is the box of old computer parts that need to go to the recycle and four boxes of stuff that came out my old office desk. My golf clubs live in there along with the car cover for the Datson 240Z. The fire box I bought several years ago is in there waiting for me to put my important papers in it. There are piles here and piles there, piles piles everywhere!


The day of reckoning has come for this room and the cleaning adventure has begun. First thing to be dealt with is the fire box. My birth certificates, passport, pink slips and credit cards go inside then it is carefully stashed away. I take the flowers out of the vase, give them a quick cleaning and lay them on shelf in the bathroom. The tool box and gardening things are moved to the garage. Then it is on the pile by the closet. I put the gift bags and boxes away, pick up the hangers and sorted through piles. Red and gold ornaments head to the garage and a portable jewelry box goes into the closet. What is that I see… it is the floor! All that is left is some VCR tapes, the electronic recyclables and the boxes from the old desk. I will tackle the boxes another day and find somewhere to recycle the electronics. The next step is to wash the curtains, clean the window and dust mop the floor. It has been a busy but rewarding day.

Make a pact with yourself to only touch things once. By touching things only once you save time, energy and eliminate clutter. Put junk mail in the garbage now and not tomorrow, find a permanent home for items when you move them and not a temporary one. Join me in my quest against clutter. Make “touching things only once” part of your positively healthy choices everyday!

Running with the Family!

It has been proven that people who exercise in groups or with a buddy are more likely to be successful than those that go it alone. The main idea is that the desire and will to start moving and keep moving is easier as a shared experience. Several members of my family either run or are trying to run, that would be me, and so as a family we participate in several fun runs each year. Sharing these experiences help keep me motivated and moving forward with my running even if it is a slow process.

On Saturday the runners in the family gathered for our Second Annual Zoo Fun Run. This particular run raises funds for the local Parks and Recreation Department and the Zoo. They have a kid’s fun run, a 5K and a 10K race. We were all entered in different events but we were there together. All four of my grandchildren ran in the Kid’s Fun Run. My little daughter-in-law (as I call her because she is cute and petite) and I ran the 5K while my daughter and her husband ran the 10K.

As with all races the Kid’s Fun Run was first. All of the children are gathered together and chase after some costumed character with another costumed character taking up the rear. The characters role is to either lead the way so that the children don’t get lost or bring up the rear so that no child gets left behind. Now this is no easy task because they have to run fairly fast to stay ahead of the children but not so fast that you leave them behind all while being dressed  in some ridiculous costume. The run starts with the boys separating and heading out fast, while the girls ran slower but hand in hand the whole way. They are all delighted to get to the end and receive their prizes which this year was a soft sided lunch box filled with surprises. Then it was off to the after run snack table to get Smucker’s Uncrustable sandwiches, granola bars and water. All of the children were then left in the care of Grandma Debby to play games and wait for the raffle to begin while the rest of us headed off to run.

Next up was the 5K. We lined up, the whistle blew and we were off and running. Luckily the first mile was pretty much downhill but with this race being an out and back that meant we would be running up that same hill the last mile. I gave that a lot of thought as we were running. I had memories of last year when I had tried to run the 10K to find out that the first two miles were uphill, with some small hills in the middle and the last mile being that same hill I was now on. Boy was I glad we had opted for the 5K this year! We ran and ran and walked a little. Soon we had looped back around and we were staring at that long uphill last mile. With a big sigh we started up the hill. I have to say that we ran most of the way even if we were running about the same pace as we could walk. When we arrived at the bottom of the last hill my daughter-in-law looked at me and with gusto said “I am running up this hill, I know I can make it because my old driveway was steeper!” and off she went. I went at it slower and waved her to run as fast as she could because we were almost to the end. The finish line was just a few hundred yards beyond that hill and across a parking lot. She ran and I followed both of us happy to cross that magic line.  After locating a bottle of water and a snack from one of the booths it was off to find Grandma Debby and the children.

The 10K started about 20 minutes after the 5K. I was glad that my daughter and her husband were running it and not me. Last year the weather had been cool but this year it was hot. All I could envision was that long uphill first few miles with no shade. But they are young and run regularly so I knew they would be fine. I waited at the finish line so that I could take a picture and watched the clock as it ticked closer to their projected finish time. They came in two minutes later than they had projected which isn’t bad for the first run of the season.

It was a fun day of exercising combined with spending time with family. Everyone was tired and sweaty but smiling. What would it take to get your family exercising together? Being active together as a family could be as simple as playing a game of tag or going on family walks. The idea is to get everybody in the family moving together. Not only will everyone be learning to live a healthy active lifestyle you will be creating wonderful family memories. Invest in your family’s health and well being by making family exercise time one of your positively healthy choices everyday!



If you would like more information about this family fun event and live in or around the Sacramento area please visit www.folsomrunwithnature.com.