"Change the World" **Charity Miles**

Today I wanted to just send a little note and update on a program I have discovered through this adventure of mine.  The more I have read about the creator and program of Charity Miles the more I love this concept!  (That isn’t just because they sent me a free t-shirt either) J

For those of you who want to “get involved” here is a little way to get out and bike/run/walk and make a difference.  As much as I would love to say Choose Team Fox, this gives you the options to pick something as dear to your heart as Team Fox Is to Mine.  I have mentioned this app before in the blog, but here is a video which helps explain this program much better than my “wordiness” of words.  (Plus we all pay more attention to pictures) J …it’s a proven marketing fact.

Check out the video here:

Charity Miles Video

Also their website is: http://www.charitymiles.org for more direct information

The sponsored Charities represented are:

·         Achilles International

·         Autism Speaks

·         Feeding America

·         The Global Fund

·         Habitat For Humanity

·         The Michael J Fox Foundation

·         The Nature Conservancy

·         Pencils of Promise

·         The World Food Programme
(More to Come) 

Now…my next mission is to get an IPhone (Android works as well), so I can jump in on this madness of lovin’ this program and start practicing what I preach, but in the meantime I’ll feel better if a few others jump in too.  I think the concept of incorporating fitness into fundraising is wonderful (Also truly appropriate for dad’s career as a coach, Health & Gym teacher) J…  He always use to do the project where you could “Run Around WV”…he knew how far each lap around the gym was and then turned the laps into distances so kids could keep track of their travels. Now with GPS options on phones, you don't even have to do any of the calculating...you just have to run/walk/bike!

I would love to hear from you if this program worked for you and keep me updated on the progress J   As the creator Gene Gurkoff mentions, together we can “Change the World”.

As for yesterdays run…yes I ran and didn’t bike for cross training….please don’t tell on me…..  I attempted to defeat mother nature and sneak a run in between storms…I should have known she’d only teach me a lesson by sneaking another storm in on me while I was about a mile away from home, apparently it appears a monsoon was her inspiration.  Needless to say it turned into a great 35 minute run, finishing with a torrential downpour J  Can’t say it was the first time nor will it probably be the last J

If you don't want to listen to me telling you to get out and do this....I'm sure dad is here :)


**Team Spangler**

Let the Icing begin

Apparently I got too excited about the long run Sunday and should have known better as to the soreness that would come next J  I suppose some things you never learn.  (Random) Like eating tortilla chips before a run… I’ve done that a million times, yet, NEVER learn my lesson!?  Maybe it’s just me J

I had a hill workout scheduled for last night that I altered a little bit.  We were supposed to do 8 hill repeats around 1 minute each…I did 6 and added some time onto the other part of the run…our long runs should be on Saturday but since I had to alter days around my legs are still just TIRED…so I didn’t want to do anything too silly.  I suppose nothing a little couch sitting while watching International House Hunters while icing my legs can’t cure J

I am wanting to check in more often as I promised I would with everyone…I want to change these blog entries  around sometimes too so it’s always different J

Yesterday I checked the PO Box (which for me I get excited like it’s Christmas or something)….there was a return address on the envelope around the Pittsburg area that I didn’t recognize so I tore into the envelope and it was a lady in the area who had heard of our story (I believe from my grandma Nelson but still checking that), however she had the sweetest note included that spoke of her husband having Parkinson’s and her daughters are runners and send a little donation to help out with our project here.  I can’t express how the random notes lift my spirits and I always call mom right away to have her relay the information onto dad.  It’s always amazing how connected so many of us are in ways we never knew, and the goal to work together to find a cure for this disease can be discovered $1 at a time.

Tonight we are suppose to do cross training (this storming is aggravating me)…someone please agree with me so I don’t feel crazy that I struggle at the thought and concept of cross training. I  KNOW it’s important, but even in college when we were supposed to do swim workouts instead or something, I somehow always felt I was cheating training because I wasn’t actually running.  I know there are studies done and so forth to prove things….but mentally I still struggle at feeling like it was “ENOUGH” of a workout to mean something. 

I’m trying to stay on the fundraising routine too of keeping up on things we can do and continue to move forward with opportunities to reach our main goal of $10,000.  I’ve discovered I’m going to approach this in 1% increments so I feel like I’m getting somewhere quicker each time….so I’ve broken down my mini goals into $100 which equals 1%.... My cousin Jim has been my email pen pal in planning and he will probably soon regret telling me to tell him what to do… I can tend to be bossy and nonstop J  We are looking to host 1 or 2 after hours/early evening events in Parkersburg so it’s a easier atmosphere to get together mingle/network/visit for a purpose…with the concept of appetizers, drinks etc….we are also working on some sponsors for those events and then obtaining some silent auction items to have at those events to help raise some additional money.  I’m thinkin’ just a little “Shakin it up for Parkinson’s” theme.  We are finalizing some dates so we can move forward and get that going.  Also a scrapbooking crop event is set for October 20^th in Charleston at our other Cousin’s Crop location and she is helping us put this on…so if you are interested in that it will be a all day crop for $30 and will include prizes, some food,  as well as the hope of some silent auction items.  I’ve been asked several times by people what can they do….feel free to reach out to me if there is something particular here you want to be in on, or any other ideas you want to incorporate and I can help you with.  I’m going to be sending out some donation requests and sponsorship letters as soon as we finalize some dates… so just let me know…. ALWAYS feel free to Email me at MissySpangler22@yahoo.com.. I tend to feel like I overwhelm people through all this (I tend to be a non stop go-getter) so I’d love to hear from you J

Just a reminder…we are still doing the dollars for dad project and could still use A LOT of States!... 

If you need the direct website link to the fundraising pages to pass along it is: http://www2.michaeljfox.org/site/TR/Sponsored/TeamFox?px=1007327&pg=personal&fr_id=1210

If you want to write a check please make it out to: Michael J Fox Foundation and you can mail it to our PO Box and I’ll get it sent in with our Team:

Team Spangler

Attention: Missy Spangler

PO Box 403

Ripley, WV 25271

I Heard a GREAT quote the other day and I just wanted to share….

”We run for those who can no longer run for themselves”

  108 Days till NYC….

Long Runs Begin

There is just something about the feeling of running past that 1 hour mark that makes you feel like you’re getting somewhere :) Yesterday's run was 80 minutes and I won't lie, when I first started moving my legs I thought they weighed 1000 pounds and I was worried mentally what this run would do to me. Maybe it was from being in the car most of the day before...but I didn't know if I was going to be able to get that run going. While on vacation I FINALLY got a "running watch" to start timing runs etc. I figured it would be appropriate given the new workout schedule we got.
I actually was hesitant to have a ‘running watch’ while getting back into this, as I was scared if I knew the distances and saw the watch changing numbers I’d be more discouraged at where I use to be in the world of timed running and where I was now given it’s been a few years since I’ve really done this whole training thing.  I think it was the change I needed also to give myself a new approach for training given the countdown to the marathon is sneaking closer and to find ways to stay excited and motivated get to you sometimes.

I was a bit worried once I hit the 25 minute mark yesterday as to still having over 10 minutes of time left prior to turn around and realizing the furtherest I'd ran till now I was already past that point.  So I just kept running and when I snuck up onto the 39 minute mark this was the turnaround spot…..

Feeling like you are at the top of the mountain can make any person appreciate just where they are..And I couldn’t help but smile (realizing just how much the scenery of running had changed in the course of 24 hours was funny).  Then I realized I had that far back to run to the house (the joys of up and back running...but don't worry my legs were feeling much lighter and better at this point) J  Clicking the watch off at 1:20.54 was a great feeling…just knowing I did it and the slight panic of feeling like I won’t be ready for the marathon escaped away for a little while.   

Just a little update regarding the training:

Thursday (July 12^th) - Ran 39 minutes….ran a few side roads along the beach road just to see the beach houses that were down different roads to change up my run a little bit. 

Friday- Ran an easy 35 minutes…I had to switch my workouts around due to fearing I wouldn’t get to run on Saturday as that should have been my long run day…but knowing we’d be traveling.

Saturday-  Took this day off since we were driving back from the beach…..and it was probably a good thing…after our All You Can Eat Seafood buffet on Friday to celebrate our last night there…(we had to make dad proud of course of all the seafood we could consume in one setting)….I’m not certain I could have even ran this day still recovering J

Sunday (yesterday)---Ran 80 minutes and LOVED it..No matter how humid it felt J  It was a nice change of route and I felt accomplished to have the longest run yet of the training schedule…  now just thinking how the next long run is scheduled to be 90 minutes J

I’ll be running an easy recovery run this evening I can promise you that while my legs are still working on recovering from the shock J   I’ve got some fundraising planning to get to work on and start getting closer to our goal….   We need to start added to our fundraising amount J  Who’s with me!? 

I’ll make an agreement…you can help fundraise or run the hour and a half with me next weekend…your choice :)

Team Spangler For Team Fox
Let's Do This

Beach Bums

Oh Yikes!  I’ve been a bad blogger!  Apparently vacation mode changed my routine a bit and I kept forgetting to put all my doings into words.  So today I’m catching up while embracing the view I have at this table, the sounds of the ocean sneaking through the screen door, this cup of coffee, and the joys of memories this week has exposed.  I’ve always been a bit of a toes in the sand beach girl.

Mom had been asking me (with the help of mammaw/papaw Nelson) to come to the beach with them for awhile, but I of course indecisive and always worrying about something kept putting off the decision until the day of departure J  We left in the middle of the night/early morning to tackle the journey to the beach with Mom, Kelly, Andy, and Myself.  It was obvious from the start we missed dad’s packing skills…We got everything in the van but organization wasn’t a factor.  Dad could pack a house into a van; it must be a trait he had to acquire having 4 women packing whenever we went anyplace. 

This week has been a celebration I suppose of caregivers.  Mom, Kelly, and Andy have the day to day duties of helping with the care giving needs for dad.  I think through the struggle of this disease it’s sometimes easy to not fully understand the daily demands that fall within a caregivers day to day operations and it’s something I know me as well as others can easily not fully grasp what that actually takes.  So today we’ll honor all the caregivers J  Dad has been with a program through Hospice this week that helps provide a few days for a caregiver within the program to be able to go on vacation, and I understand just how important it’s been for them this week.  We laughed as it didn’t take but a few minutes for a nurse helping there to already know who dad was.  I can honestly say I’m certain that man has never met a stranger or been at a place someone didn’t know him.  Carter and Sophie have been entertaining papaw with visits with Tara and Troy, and we get updates from Becki, Gary, Denny, Kay, Mammaw & Pappaw Nelson sneaking in for some visits.  We’ve been giving dad all the updates of this week’s activities including of course the most important….were we’ve eaten for his interest.  I told dad yesterday we are lucky we are allowed back into any of the “All you can Eat Buffett” restaurants, they’ve either put us on the “not allowed list” or dad has probably already put them out of businessJ

Kelly, Mom, Me

We grew up coming to Nags Head, NC as kids and as a family.  Maybe that’s why it’s always been a favorite of mine due to the memories.  This week has been full of reminiscing and laughs of the stories we’ve had here.  It’s been I suppose what they call “good medicine” for the situation we are all in battling this disease that can stem bitterness.  Every day on my runs here…I think about my runs here with dad.  We aren’t staying in the same place many of those runs took place, but the smell of the ocean reminds me of me begging in my own head…”Please dad…make that turn movement where it means you are ready to turn around and I can turn around too” …or when upon turn around the back of the Ben Franklin store means we are finally almost back to the condo.  J 

It has been nice to switch up my running routine, some runs in the morning and new scenery, but most of all, and the sounds of the ocean J   Since I am due for a long training update I better get to it:

July 4^{th (}Wednesday)- HOT…. Oh wait that was the story of that week J  I did the usual road run just checking in on a few of the neighbors making sure everyone’s power was back on and alright J  Ran about 40 minutes.

July 5^th (Thursday)-  Today was a fun run!  Went to the Arts and Crafts Fair and got to meet up with Steven Nutter who was working a booth there with his dad and we planned on a run after close of the fair.  We ran out through Cedar Lakes with one of his cross country runners for about 50 minutes with some up & down hills.  It was a nice pace with lots of remember when laughs including telling his runner how old we were getting compared to high school pace days J  Then it was nice to talk to Randy and catch up with them as they were a 2^nd family to us growing up.

July 6^th (Friday)- It was an off day (the training log told me to) J

July 7^th (Saturday)- WELCOME TO THE BEACH!!!!  Ahhh the sun and the sound and the waves of ocean… and heat…don’t forget the heat J  Ran about 45 minutes checking out the new neighborhood and our neighbors for the week.

July 8^th (Sunday)- Ran about 40 minutes going the other direction today to see everything new there was to see.

July 9^th (Monday)- Rain Rain go away J  Ran just 20 minutes today…wanted to do something…but I think the laziness of the day started to sneak up on me.

July 10^th (Tuesday)- The workout said Hill Repeats or 40-45 easy run….seeing as my scenery doesn’t present a hill option I supposed I would embrace the 40 minute run today J  It wasn’t as hot and a little bit easier to breathe without so much of the humidity today.

July 11^th (Wednesday)- Ran 36 minutes….it was going to be 40 but apparently I ran back faster and even tried to loop around to add a few minutes.

Dad would always tease about running so he can eat whatever he wanted…but especially on vacation week and I’ve found myself thinking that a lot this week just for laughs.  Everytime someone asks where we are eating tomorrow we all start laughing.  This week has been good for the sole….I think for more reasons than I can find the words to describe.

The view from one of our Favorite Resturants Growing up: Fishermans Wharf

I hate to leave…but this view now has the sun sneaking through the rainy clouds we’ve had and I’m not certain my attention will last much longer while I see a great spot to sit my chair for the day J  I’ve got a new notebook to work on for a list of to do’s and planning for the next step in our Team Spangler for Team Fox….so many of these memories give more reasons to continue this battle for a cure.  I’d give anything to have our dad here with us eating all he can eat…and knowing he’d want to go fishing off the Piers I’ve found myself running by every day.

Dad is Always "Waiting on a Woman" :)

The Calm After the Storm
   I guess Calm may not be the right word yet, as some are still recovering and others waiting for power to return.  Amazing what a storm less than an hour in length can leave behind.  No…WV didn’t have a tornado (which I have experienced before) but we did have winds strong enough to compare to.  We were beyond lucky to arrive home without any trees sitting on the house itself, but we do have enough fire wood to last us a few winters and enough branches to have several large bonfires to enjoy soon enough.  It’s amazing how much we take for granted when we realize just how much we depend on things and it throws us for a loop (and most of that depending gesture comes just out of what makes things convenient for us..not what is a necessity).  Something that seems as simple as electricity in the midst of 100+ degree days we don’t realize how much we have become convenience by throughout our life. 

     It also shows compassion in people.  We had several stopping to check in to make sure things were alright once they determined their house was alright…the text messages shared (if we could get enough cell phone service to get it out).  Yesterday on my run I stopped by several of the houses I’ve made friends with along my route to check in.  It was neat to hear everyone’s version of the storm and their updates of when they heard we were getting our electric back (funny how some had it down to the hour and many still heard it would be days).  Ripley apparently was the only place that had gas in the area so there were lines of cars backed up on both sides of the road whenever we would try to get out. 

     During this if I was able to get through the “All circuits are busy” recording when trying to call mom (on her cell due to their phone being out too..and if you know cell phone service that’s a shot in the dark as well), they got power back, lost it, and luckily got it back sooner than others.  Mom had to go to Ellenboro to get her cell phone to work enough to call out to us. I didn’t think they had any trees close enough to damage the house too much but you never know.  Dad’s oxygen runs off electric as well as his bed (it pushes air through the mattress  to help keep it stabilized with air making it easier for him to lay on), so when the power went out, it means dad’s mattress deflates and so forth.  Mom and Kelly were making it work with pillow cushions and had to really create some new ideas of how to get dad situated.   Thankfully they were in a good spot for the power to kick back on sooner than others and were able to get dad back to usual flow of things.  Mom mentioned yesterday she put on the DVD we got dad that was the season episodes of the Andy Griffith Show….he spent yesterday enjoying that.  Which oddly enough, I hate to hear the passing of Andy Griffith today after mom was just talking about that yesterday.  Dad always would have that on TV when episodes would run and whistle the theme song.

As far as the training goes:

Friday:  We went to pick Blackberries at a friend’s farm, which obviously didn’t happen due to the storm, nor did a run happen in the aftermath of everything.

Saturday:  Got a little run in for a short bit…probably only 2 miles..but spent the day, raking, picking up sticks…racking more…dragging trees around…so I’m assuming that’s some sort of cross training…and I’m sad to admit I am sore today J

Sunday:  I didn’t actually run today….did spent the entire day with sunlight permitting of continuing to clean up etc.  I suppose yet again I’ll claim it as a “Rocky” style day of cross training and lifting J  (You’d be surprised how sore your stomach will be after bending down 1000 times) J

Monday:  Ran about 5 miles…took a few little breaks to stop in and check on a few neighbors…checked on another neighbor’s puppy too and changed his water as they went into town to stay for a few days due to not having any power. 

***Also a note…MONDAY started the official start date to the 18 week training schedule our new Team Fox Coach has sent us.  I’m so excited to have a training schedule given to me to work off of and feel like a plan is in place to get this race underway. 

My little note for the day can highlight another WV’ian (as we all love our hometown people) signing and the guest in his video Andy Griffith…but I figure this song is appropriate for dad….he’s spent his whole life with a wife and 3 daughters…. “Waiting’ on a Woman”

If that Link Doesn't work with your browser here is a direct link:

Brad Paisley "Waiting on a Woman" with Andy Griffith

Dad with all his women he has to wait on :)

Mini- Fundraising Friday Update

Running update J

Monday: I suppose it goes without saying that Monday was a lot cooler then today’s temperatures.  I should have ran 20 miles on Monday to carry over the rest of this week’s hot temperatures J  I did just want to change up my routine a little bit once I got running and decided a little hill workout might be interesting to throw in the mix.  I kinda wanted the sense to be sore and feel pain (weird I know)..but I just wanted to “feel” like I was pushing myself in the mix of things.  I went to a cemetery a little bit down the road from our house.  I ran about 15 minutes prior to going there…mind you it was a smaller hill (I don’t want to be stupid here)..and I chose to do 7 hill repeats… why not…it’s our lucky number and it sounded good J  So I did those while cooling down with the loop around.  I than ran about 15 minutes to cool down to make a total run of about 40 minutes.

Tuesday:  Ran about 5 1/2 miles, and yes my legs are sore J  I suppose I was successful in that venture. 

Wednesday:  Ran about 5 miles (same old same old) J  I wish I had thought to take my running stuff with me as I was in Charleston for a work event and a chance of scenery with a run along the river would have been so nice!

Thursday:  Mom came to visit J  We went out to dinner and enjoyed the evening.  Mom and I walked for about 3 miles on the road, so I suppose I’ll have to let this day slide for a running day. 

I OFFICIALLY got the registration number to sign up for the marathon…so its official….My name is on the roster for the NYC marathon!  (Yikes..I’m nervous)

We also heard from our Team Fox Coach this week….they have an 18 week training scheduled put together for us to help us with our training effort.  It officially starts July 2^nd, so I’m really looking forward to someone now telling me what to do.  (can’t you tell I’m a coach’s kid?).  Hopefully I have built a little bit of “base mileage” and ready to feel like I can do this again and use the actual word TRAINING.  One of the first things too we are looking to do is get a “GOAL” for finish time for the marathon, I almost don’t even know how to approach it…so we’ll work on that. 

To keep with the “Fundraising Friday” theme I introduced awhile back ago…I did want to give a little update. 

Our Total on the Fundraising Page right now is:  $2829.84

I am currently in 4^th place for the NYC marathon Team of Team Fox….so we are in the midst of getting some plans set!  I have more details to come…. But have completely ran out of time today, but wanted to check in with everyone! J

Check back on Monday for some more updates!  

I hope everyone has a great weekend….and get out there and do something….

(well…when it cools down) J 

Run/Train for Any Race Conditions :)

Ahhhh It’s Monday, and Monday’s ALWAYS arrive too quickly after a weekend.  I’m sure we all hear that every Monday, but it’s true J

I’ve realized I slacked a little bit towards the end of last week on the blog, so I have some catching up to do.  I have been on a running spell, so it’s been nice to feel like I’m getting somewhere with all this. 

Wednesday- I had this day off of work (Due to a state holiday in WV)..So I was excited to be able to run at a different time in the day to switch up my routine.  However, I got myself out the door around 9:30am and it was already HOT (I believe temperatures topped around almost 100 degrees this day)….  So a battle of the heat was on.  Mom said I was crazy when I was talking to her on the run, however when she told dad he didn’t pick a side of who was right (Me or Mom) about running at the time…he knows better by now to pick sides. J  I ran about 6 miles today just for the pure mental power of saying I ran 6 miles in heat of that sort.  (Yes I’m well aware some refer to that as stupid)

Thursday- I held off running till later this evening to beat the heat for 2 days in a row.  I didn’t add the extra “Loop” this evening so the run was probably only about 5 ½ miles.

Friday- I took this day off… honestly I have a knee issue that still tends to act up at times from a stress fracture in college…so I don’t want to flare it up this early on and it was really bothering me this morning, so a little ice pack it is.  (Oh the college injury excuse) J

Saturday-  Back at it…and ran about 6 miles and looped around to get the mail down the road a bit to add a little bit more to this run.  It was another little bit hotter of a day, I suppose it makes you feel like your accomplishing more with the extra challenge.

Sunday-  Brock road the bike with me today so I was hoping to get just a little bit more in today with the extra time we had.  It’s funny when I find myself talking to myself in my head about wanting to turn around and then making myself go “one more tree” up before turning around just to think I pushed myself a little further than I first thought.  I ran probably between 6 ½- 7 miles today.

I promised myself on the cold days I wouldn’t complain about the hot days…so I’m zipping my lips.  I suppose that’s one blessing of living in an area of season changes…with this journey taking time, I’ll be battling the best of all seasons.  I have to laugh…there are many moments I find myself in a “head game” with my own self.  I think I wanted to run during the not recommended times of the day sometimes just to prove to myself I did it even when it was a little hard.  Dad always said (and many other famous people/quotes) You never know what race conditions will be one day, so you have to train for all elements.  Now, me saying the word “race” scares me a little bit.  I’m trying to tell myself to complete this marathon, not race it…..as soon as it becomes real competitive I know I can obsessively get involved with it to want to be the best and for this, I’m just wanting to focus on the journey.  I guess I still feel a slight panic as if I won’t be ready…as if this race is coming up next week.  I even get nervous seeing the ticker on the blogger page and even though it says 131 days till the race, I feel like it’s coming up sooooo soon.  I feel like I should be running 15-20 miles each day already. 

I remember when we were in high school and a group of us decided to run the Parkersburg Half Marathon.  With cross country being in season many told us not to “race it”…just “get the run in”.  So we decided we’d pretty much run the race together…but we wanted to embrace the atmosphere as if we were “fast”.  We kept sneaking up further and further into the mile pace time at the start of the race to see if we could get close to the Kenyan’s who were the race winning contenders (and to try to make it on TV).   I think we goofed off part of the race just enjoying the miles.  At one water stop I remember us laughing about something and some lady being mad and saying if we had that much energy then we should pick up the pace and run faster.  (I think she was just hitting a wall at the time maybe) J  Most other runners whom we were running next to would strike up a conversation and ask where we were from and exchange a little conversation before moving along. 

I do have to say, I’ve always loved the “runners world”.  I’ve played my share of sports, and it is within the world of runners there is an unspoken level of respect.  We may be competing against one another, but to be at the stage of competing against one another we realize how hard we both had to work to get to that level.  I think when it was runners vs. runners I pretty much was friends with the groups who was usually in the packs with us (high school as well as college).  Now basketball…. Not so much J  In high school basketball was a bit of a rivalry a little bit and some players seemed to not like the others no matter what as much….but in college I think it’s safe to say my coach would tease and tell me to use my running ability to run the other way from a few rivalry’s between schools and player positions.

 It’s all in good humor, but running is what taught me the most self discipline.  I know if I didn’t log my miles, it would be myself that would suffer the most.  Getting up earlier in the morning on vacation to get your run in before the day activities got started (as well as the heat), morning runs, late night runs.  There were always sacrifices to be made, but you had to determine first what we wanted to achieve out of life and make the sacrifices according to that, otherwise maybe it isn’t worth it to you.  Dad had lots of those talks with me through high school.  There were many times there was something I thought I was really missing out on because I had a AAU tournament or game one weekend, but I realize everything always worked out and there was a good balance of goals and play.  I’d met some of my best friends through AAU basketball who had a lot of the same dreams I had and a group of girls that were going through the same sacrifices as me that helped me understand it is worth it.

So thank you dad, for helping me realize that my life wouldn’t end because I missed something at the time I thought was the biggest event ever J  Values change over time, but we keep learning things from each stepping stone.  I’ve realized so much through this that not every tiny thing has to be perfect….because in life…..things could always be worse, I just wish it didn’t take this battle you fight every day for me to realize it.  Some people never realize just how good they have it till they realize someone so close to them has it so much worse.  I think twice now before I complain about something to second guess if it’s really worth complaining about.

Dad with some of his high school football teamates at a reunion...Sherman High School
(Dad is the one on the far right 2nd row, blue t-shirt)
Dad went on to earn a scholarship to WVU to play football as well as later transferred to Glenville to play Football & Baseball on a scholarship.
Through high school dad made many sacrafices to get to practices etc so he could give himself the opportunity to attend college and play sports.