The Great Race continued....

It had been 8 months since I had been "home" to CA, and 8 months since I had been around my sister, Ginger's precious little family. The last time I was there was for her funeral. Don and I were able to leave our kids with our good friends and make a weekend trip to be there for the "Great Race". I was caught off guard with emotion when I walked into her home, being attacked by four sweet children wanting hugs and attention, and just being there....without her. I did the best I could to greet each one of my nieces and nephew, but eventually had to escape to a corner and allow the tears to flow. It was hard to embrace the fact that I was there for a visit, as I had done so many times before, but that this time, Ginger wouldn't be with us. Reality. Somehow, I pulled myself together and did my best to be strong for her children. It was wonderful to see them and be with them. They are amazingly strong and full of faith with an assurance that their Mom is in a good place and they will see her again. I loved that they talked about her all the time and still have very vivid memories as though they just saw her yesterday. Don and I stayed at their house and one morning, I poured myself a bowl of cold cereal in one of their huge mugs, instead of a regular bowl. Almost immediately, little 4 year old Brady said with a huge smile, "My mom always eats cold cereal in those mugs, too!" I could have burst into tears, but instead had to smile. She is still so close to them.

I love this picture with Ginger's girls, but I wish Brady would have been willing to be in the picture!



The Agoura Great Race was definitely a day of healing and tears, but also "happiness". In the weeks and months leading up to this run, I spent a lot of time running and trying to get back in shape after hurting my knee last year. During those runs, I found myself laughing and crying as I thought of my sister, her life, and our memories together. Sometimes I ran with my ipod and it seemed that every song would relate to her somehow. I shed many tears on those runs, but I felt that she was often right there running alongside of me. On the day of the run, it seemed all of that emotion came to a head and I bawled through most of the race. When I reached the finish line, I saw my brothers who had finished long before me. I couldn't help but think about my own finish line for this race we call "earth" and how happy I will be to be greeted by so many loved ones, including my little sister, Ginger! I embraced my brothers and Trevor immediately said to me, "What's wrong? Did you fall?" That made me laugh. Especially since he was really clueless as to why I was crying.


Don ran the 10K, Jason ran the half marathon, and the rest of us ran the 5k. What a blessing it was to be surrounded by my wonderful family.


There were so many people running in memory of Ginger, wearing the red "Happiness" T-shirts that represented her final blog entry (www.jasondgingerd.blogspot.com). It was really neat to see so many.
This is a picture of those in our family who were able to make it that day.



It was quite a treat to have so many adult siblings in town...without all the children! (Don't get me wrong...I LOVE my children and nieces and nephews, but it's nice every once in a while to have no interruptions!) It gave us many opportunites to go out together and just hang out and have that adult time. I love my family so much.

The Great Race....

Last year, my sister, Ginger, ran her first 5k in The Agoura Great Race and inspired coutless others to get in shape and start running, too. After she passed away last July, a group of her friends decided they would honor her by running this year and even created T-shirts in her memory. I don't think they realized how many would want to participate, but it has turned into a huge event. Don and I will be leaving for CA tomorrow to run with so many of our family and friends. I am anxious to be surrounded by so many loved ones, and know it will be an emotionally exhausting weekend, but healing at the same time. I don't know if I'll run or walk, but I do know that Ginger will be there with me, cheering me on!

My brother posted this comment on Ginger's blog a couple of months after she passed away. It made me cry. It was so inspired and it's interesting to think about how her run in the Great Race was similar to her time on earth. She was 30 years old when she past away, and ran the 5k in 30 minutes. He said, "Ginge, you ran a great race and you finished at 30 (at least this leg of the race). You didn't let anyone hold you back, but you definitely helped countless others along your way. You broke the tape first in our family and we look forward to seeing you when we cross the line and giving you a huge Ginger-style victory hug on the other side of the finish line. Until then, we know you will be watching us, cheering us on." She definitely is.

More visitors!

Who would have thought that even though our closest relatives are 11 hours away, that we'd have so many visitors when we moved to Texas?! Don's brother, Ryan, and his wife, Keri, came with their four children and stayed for almost a week! We hadn't seen them in 2 years, so it was wonderful to have that time to spend with them. The weather was perfect for them, and coming from COLD Nebraska, they loved being able to spend their days outside.



Don and I went out with Ryan and Keri while Ginger and Gillian watched all the kids....just what they do best. The kids enjoyed every minute with their long lost cousins and the adults had fun with some intense fusbol and Wii tournaments!

Keri and I ventured out to Dallas one day to take the kids to the Observation Deck at the airport to watch the planes come and go. It was definitely a hit with the boys!

Mother/Daughter Luau

I got to go to my first Mother/Daughter Luau with Ginger, now that she is a young woman! We had so much fun. We had Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner, Ginger took 2nd place in the Limbo, and we played games that tested our knowledge about each other....and we did really well!