Yesterday I wanted to share about Yann's marathon which was on Sunday
but the fire at Notre Dame consumed my every thought,
and the marathon trailed far behind in what I wanted to post on my blog.
Though today I saw a connection that seemed to bring a moment of stillness in the sadness of what has happened.
Chelsea (seven months pregnant) and I followed Yann while he ran the marathon in Paris by mapping out his course, calculating where and at what time he would be along the 42 km trail so that we could cheer him on as he ran by.
Yann was running faster than expected which meant we had to move faster between the meeting points if we wanted to see him. Our last meeting point before the finish line was in the Bois de Bologne at the 35 km point. When we arrived Chelsea noticed on the app that we were using that Yann had considerably slowed down, and we began to wonder if he was alright.
We stood on stumps to see if we could see him. If you have never been to a marathon let me tell you it is hard to find a runner in a sea of runners but at last, we saw him his hand was on his head as he weaved back and forth mumbling, "I cannot do it, it is too much, I cannot feel my legs, I cannot do it." He looked terrible he had the face of defeat. I started to cry, and cheer him on with a mumble of words and emotions, at the same time as I was uttering my encouragement, I saw Chelsea leaped from the stump and run to her father. She joined him in the race, putting her hand on his back, "Papa you have this, breath, your legs are moving, they are taking you to the finish line, breath, let the pain go, you can do this, focus on your breathing you are going to make it."
It was so beautiful to see Chelsea act without a moment of hesitation, without a moment of reflection to herself. She knew exactly what her father needed and she knew she could help him reach his goal.
I stood in awe.
And there it was in that moment, encouragement, an extension of oneself to another, love, faith and the promise of joy.
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Notre Dame love, faith and the promise of Joy!
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