Camp Papa Postcard Classics: The Creeps.

 
Dear Mama,

I was real, real excited yesterday 'cause Grandpa said he was taking us to see Madagascar Five! And I was real happy when he said that because I didn't even remember seeing a commercial for that movie on Cartoon Network yet. 

When we got there it was really just a whole bunch of people in costumes just pretending like they were the movie but on a stage, Mama!I was a little bit about to cry. 

And then Isaiah said, "Zachary, It's Madagascar LIVE not Madagascar FIVE." He wasn't even nice about it, either.

Isaiah said he liked Madagascar LIVE. But it a little bit gave me the creeps. Especially the big man dressed like King Julian. He was the creepiest of all.

King Julian

Yuck.

Love, 

Zachary, Age 6 3/4

P.S. We are 'sposed to see Despicable Me 2 tomorrow. Can you please check to make sure it's the movie and not the creepy costume show? Thanks.

Close encounters of the Grady kind.

I was walking down the sidewalk across the street from Grady the other morning. Although there were cars whizzing by on the street, for whatever reason there weren't many pedestrians. Other than a lone nurse who'd just slipped inside of the revolving doors ahead of me, it was just me out there.

And I was okay with that.

When I reached the cross walk, I felt a gust of wind rushing across my body. Yes, this was summer in Georgia, but somehow Mother Nature hadn't gotten that memo on this day. Instead of the thick blanket of predictable humidity that normally covered such mornings, this day was different. It was unseasonably cool and accompanied by a gentle breeze. The kind that makes you close your eyes for a bit and sigh.

Sigh.

Eyes now opened, I crossed the street. I could still feel that wind rolling over me and that, combined with the sun on my face, made me smile. Like the kind of smile that you have when you realize how happy you are to be exactly where you are at the exact moment you are there.

I almost started skipping. Almost. I felt just that good. So my grin got wider and fuller as I strolled along and approached the doors. And I know this is true about my expression because I saw my reflection in the glass just before I pushed on the entrance. Which made me smile even more.

Then, just before I headed inside, I heard a deep voice.

"Hello there, young lady."

Standing to the side of the door entrance was an elderly gentleman holding what looked like a hand-carved wooden cane. It was as if he'd appeared out of thin air. I felt almost certain that no one had been out there with me, especially so close to the door. But so I wouldn't freak out, I told myself that maybe I was so lost in my own world that perhaps I'd missed him from the corner of my eye.

Maybe.

"Hello there, sir," I replied. "You doing okay today, sir?"  My voice was musical. Like it always is when I speak to the Grady elders. That made me smile even more.

Hello there, sir. You doing okay today, sir?

But that question I asked him was rhetorical. I know it was because I could already tell. This man was one of those people who made up his mind to always have a good day. Every day no matter what. You could see it from the twinkle in his eyes and hear it in the fluid and smoky tone of his voice. Even still, my question made that smile that was already plastered onto his face grow larger. And all of it was perfectly accented by this fluffy white beard that deeply contrasted his espresso-colored skin.

He was beautiful. He was.

When I stopped to speak to him, he stayed in the same place he was. His leathery hands were resting firmly on top of that cane and his back was leaned against the side of the building. And him staying where he was was okay with me, too. It was.

"You know what, sir? I can already tell that you are doing okay today. I can. Maybe even more than okay."

He grinned again and nodded his head downward. Almost like a bow in my direction which sort of moved me.

"You know, young lady? The same could be said about you. Like your light is shining, young lady. And I could see it, too. I could see your light shining!"

And when he said that he pressed his lips together for emphasis and nodded once more. And something about how he said those words while gazing in my direction made me want to immediately cry. I mean that.

"Really?" I finally eked out. That was all I could think to say.

"Really," he replied.

"Thank you, sir. I mean, for saying that, okay?"

"And thank YOU, young lady, for letting your light shine."

And when he said that I sort of just stared at him with my hand glued to the door but not moving. I looked into his eyes for a beat and wondered to myself what this meant. Like pondered the idea of God appearing in everyday people all the time. And if that was true then, perhaps, this would have to be one of those times.

I wondered that, I did. Because something about that man and how he looked at me felt divinely appointed. I don't know how to explain it but it did.

Yeah.

So that was it. That was that. I waved good bye to him and made my way to the clinic.

And you know what? This time I did skip.

This time? I did.

***
Happy Friday.

THE Team S.J.G.R. Facebook Page is UP!

JoLai came through as promised! She said for me to tell all of you Team S.J.G.R. members to search "Team S.J.G.R." and you should be good to go. Be sure to include the periods--JoLai says that  Team SJGR without periods is something. . .err. . .else.)

You can also just use this link to join (that is, if you're a Facebooker.)

There we will share progress, encourage one another and remind each other that, regardless of how much we try to ignore it, THE REALNESS ain't going anywhere. We'll hold each other accountable and will keep each other out of hypothetical la-la land FOR GOOD.

Young, old, male, female. . . join it, post on it, share it. . .you know. . .all the stuff y'all do on Facebook. Let's start a movement. . . . you in? If you scurred, say you scurred. Then shake that off and focus on your heart so that the people you love can have you HERE. That's real talk.

Go and join it and share your 4th of July action. Or just "like it" and share it with your people so that our team can grow. Whoops--JoLai just notified her Facebook-novice sister that this is a "group page" not a "like page." So. . .uhh. . .yeah. . .so much for the "like" part. Yeah, so join it.

Thanks so much, little sissy. Deanna would be so proud of us and so inspired by all of this. She'd be proud of you guys, too. :)

S.J.G.R., y'all!

***

Team S.J.G.R. Thursday Huddle #1

Do it for the story, man! And for the HEART!

Happy Firecracker Day, Team!

Man. So everyone knows that the 4th of July is a day of major temptation when it comes to the food balance thing. But summer months in general can be tricky because of the whole social-barbeque-imbibing vibe of it all. And seriously--who doesn't like cookout food?

Answer: Everyone likes cook out food when it's good.

And so, since we know that this time of year can knock us off of our mindful balance, we put our game faces on. Even during backyard barbeque season, heart disease does not go away. Since for all of us we know that S.J.G.R. we won't pretend like it does go away.

No, ma'am. No, sir.

But never fear, people! I'm not trying to be a wet blanket. I'm just suggesting that this be a day that we put our mindfulness in overdrive. Enjoy the cookouts but keep your S.J.G.R. awareness turned all the way UP!

In Atlanta, Independence Day is synonymous not only with food glorious food--it's especially the day we all associate with The Peachtree Road Race. The Peachtree Road Race has the distinction of being the world's largest 10K. It's super hard to get a number, but something about the Peachtree Road Race makes people want to get moving whether they're running it or not.

Guess what, you guys? This morning I was one of the lucky people with a number for 2013 Peachtree Road Race. Not because I had my act together enough to have made it in by the deadline but instead because my brother Will was kind enough to give me his! (Thanks, bro!)  

I was so, so happy. Happy because I'd get to tell you guys about it, happy because I'd get to do something nice for my heart,  and also super-happy because this would be my first official race of any kind--EVER.

Races make you a bona fide runner, y'all!

But then came the rain. Oh, the rain! Yesterday it started coming down and WOULD. NOT. STOP. In the forty-something years in the history of the Peachtree Road Race, never had there been this kind of rain forecasted for the start of the race. I kept checking the news and looking out of my window hoping and praying that "100% chance of thundershowers" meant something different than thundershowers.

I woke up this morning and--you guessed it--there were thundershowers. Booooo!!! Hisssss!!!!! I stood at the window staring at it coming down feeling myself feeling sad. I mean, first a stress fracture derails my half marathon training back in the winter and now rain sabotages my first race ever? 

Damn, universe.

I logged onto the race website and saw that, rain or shine, the show would go on. I looked on Twitter and saw all of the folks saying they were in no matter what. That kind of amped me up!

I sent a text to my race partner/sisterfriend Frieda early this morning. Frieda trained in Internal Medicine at Emory and was one of our Grady Chief Residents when I was in my second year on faculty. She stayed on for a few years as faculty and then moved on to be in a thriving private practice group in town. That move didn't stop the show for us, either. We've remained good friends ever since and had planned to run today's race together.

But that was before the rain. Grrrr.

One of the things I love about Frieda (who I affectionately call Free-Free) is that she's always down for an adventure. So my text to her said this:

"Hey Free-Free! It's raining cats and dogs! Here's the million dollar question--do we do it for the story? I say we DO IT FOR THE STORY, man!"

And guess what? Frieda aka Free-Free the free spirit was 100% game.

Frieda and I coincidentally had the same shoes--we took at as a sign to go for it!

And so. We met up at Frieda's house, walked the mile and a half to the start line, and away we went!

6.2 miles of heart-loving excitement. We laughed, sang and danced for almost the whole time. At one point we were singing John Cougar Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane" at the TOPS of our lungs. (Yes, cougars singing Cougar.)

We averaged an 11.5 minute mile the whole way--I was super proud of that for my first race ever. Woo hoo! We didn't give up--even on the notorious "heartbreak hill."

Even better? The rain let up--literally--from the start of the race until about 45 minutes after we crossed the finish. The monsoon restarted after we were cozy inside and rubbing our sore muscles and tootsies.

All of it was awesome. I did my best to focus on my heart the entire time. I also thought a lot about my sissy and all of you guys, too. I looked at her picture before I started and felt super charged up. This picture was taken exactly one year ago today on July 4, 2012.

I was also so, so happy to run into my sorority sister, Tamika W. at the finish line. Tamika and I both pledged at Tuskegee University and we are currently in the same alumnae chapter. AND she personally knew my sissy. I totally would have texted Deanna this photo which she would have promptly put on Facebook. Ha ha.

Gamma Tau Girls finished strong!

 Also one of Deanna's closest friends (also our sorority sister) did the race, too. Her name is Crystal H. and last week she texted me and told me that she was Team S.J.G.R. all the way! Here she is after the race. Look how strong she looks!

 

I sort of cried when I saw this picture of Crystal. And I'm sort of crying now just looking at it again. Deanna loved Crystal so so much. And she's been doing so many amazing things for her heart this year. This year Crystal ran THIRTEEN half marathons in 79 days. YES, y'all! S.J.G.R.!!! 

Sure, her body looks great but think about how happy this makes her coronary arteries! I'm so inspired by her--she's older than me and has an adult daughter, too.  Take that, heart disease! In yo' face!

But I deserve to eat WHATEVER I want, don't I?

After the race, I wanted FOOD! It's so tempting to want to eat everything in sight after a hard workout. You trick yourself into thinking that because you DESERVE IT that the realness has somehow gone on hiatus.

 It doesn't.

But thinking about my commitment to Team S.J.G.R. got my mind in the right place. I did indulge in some good food but I went through the process of balancing the treats with restraint. Harry and I had lunch at Houston's and we both turned down the spinach and artichoke dip which, if you have had that dip, is a very difficult thing to turn down. I knew that I wanted a glass of wine and that my favorite super-sized salad that I was ordering is covered with a peanut-based dressing that's fattening. I chose the wine and the salad. 

Another option could have been to have no wine, to eat half of the salad to allow some space for a dessert. But I wanted the whole salad and the wine. So that meant no to dessert. As for the dip? Hmmm. I guess I'll just say that I'm not sure for the amount of damage it would do that it made my worth-it list.

The BHE and I were talking about how we have to reprogram ourselves to stop eating at "satisfied." Neither of us were full after our meal so dessert was tempting. Since Harry is on the team, he was the one who helped nudge us away from the brownie/ice cream yumminess while I was the one who shut down the dip. The no's were gentle ones. Not guilty-smug-healthy-person ones. Gentle no-thank-yous.

THIS is what it's all about.

It's a rainy mess here so no cook outs or fireworks for us tonight. But I can say I remembered the fact that, even on 4th of July, SHIT IS STILL REAL.

How you guys doing so far? Check in TEAM S.J.G.R.!!  What did y'all do? How did it go? Successful? Epic Fail? Remember--failures are okay -- just dust yourself off and regroup. It's a work in progress.

***
Happy Birthday, America!


Now playing on my mental iPod. . . . Bab's Funny Girl classic was my anthem this morning.


And just picture two forty-something year-old moms running and singing this VERY loud and without a single drop of liquid courage! We were TURNED UP!