Well, it has been a little over a month since my last post and it has been a month which carried a lot of sadness.  On April 12, 2013 the world lost a strong and loving woman, on this date my mother passed away after a period of extended illness; my world will never be the same.

In my family my mother’s nickname was The General; that alone should tell you the pivotal role she played in our lives.  For the past several years I have lived hundreds of miles from my parents and I used to joke (well sort of joke) that even though I was hundreds of miles away and in my forties my mom could still call me and tell me what to do.  Like when I was a teen I did not always listen, but I certainly paid attention.

My mother loved fiercely, for me that love and strength fueled me in so many parts of my life.  She is huge part of how I lead at work and how I have raised my children.  I feel I could write a book if I took the time to include all that she has done for me.

Since her passing I have played some of my memories of her in my head some have made me cry, some have made me smile.  Yesterday when I was getting ready for a run, one in particular came to mind and in that memory I took action to etch my mother firmly into my running.

In early fall of last year I traveled back east and took my parents on a mini vacation to Wildwood, NJ. While there I wanted to buy a hat for running; I was still pretty new to running and had not purchased a hat or headband or anything.  Because Wildwood was such a part of my childhood and I did not get there very often anymore I wanted a Wildwood hat; little did I know this hat would mean so much more.  As it turns out I would only see my mom two more times after this vacation and that time with my parents in NJ holds some special memories for me.

Most of the winter I have been wearing a wool cap when I run and I also purchased a Bondi Band so I do not always wear this hat.  Yesterday it was raining and I definitely wanted a baseball cap, so I pulled out this hat to wear on my run.  As I was ready to put it on memories of that time with my parents came flooding back.  So I took my hat and a Sharpie and wrote a little note for my mom.  I put on my hat and took my mom with me on my run, it was the best run I have had in months.

Love and miss you Mom.