Affirmation

The letters that I have been composing for the purpose of convincing people to donate to my marathon cause haven't even been printed yet. Because I have a couple of cool little things up my sleeve, I pushed sending them out to next week when all of my shipments have come in. Even so, word of what I've been up to has started to get around, and already people are wholeheartedly giving me support. It is humbling to think that people are counting on me to accomplish this marathon goal and to raise all of that money, but because they have such positive faith in me I know I can do it.

Strangely, last weekend Rick and I went furniture shopping and had kind of a "huh, cool" moment. The store that we went to was a larger chain store that had at least fifteen to twenty sales associates. The place was pretty busy because it was a Presidents' Day sales event. As was expected we were greeted by a nice older woman at the door who was then our got-to-gal for any questions and suggestions. When we were ready to actually make our purchase, she was busy with a returning customer and had asked a co-worker to help us out. He was a friendly guy and we didn't think much of his bald head at first.

As we sat filling out the final paperwork, someone mentioned how much they like my winter hat. Our sales guy jokingly said that he could use one as he was freezing all of the time due to his health problems. It took Rick and I a moment to catch on that he was referring to having cancer. Rick made mention that I was just starting my campaign to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and that I would be running a marathon this fall. The salesman's face lit up and he said he was reading Lance Armstrong's autobiography. You could tell that it was a source of inspiration for him.

As we finished our transaction and he walked us to the door, he thanked me numerous times for committing to such a worthy cause. Imagine that. Him thanking me. Gratitude from a complete stranger, who is fighting a battle of his own. Somehow, it seemed as though I should have been grateful to him because meeting him was one more sign that I am doing the right thing. Of all of the sales people that could have helped us that day, it was the one person that could have connected with us in a special way. As I plod along my daily miles, I have one more person to keep in mind to force me to not give up. Rick and I felt happy that if anyone should receive a sales commission, that our money was going to a person who needs it the most.

Keep the kind words coming everybody! All of the positive vibes really make me think that I can pull this off. Plus the more pumped I am about this, the more I think I can really get people to give. A smile is contagious, laughing heals and I want to help spread that along.

UPDATE:
And the world just gets smaller - or at least the county. A few nights ago, my family was discussing this encounter we had with some of my aunts and uncles. My aunt works at our local hospital and had recently overheard one of her coworkers talking about her boyfriend and his cancer. Want to guess who that guy was? Yep, it was him. So now everyone keeps telling me I should knit him a hat to keep his noggin warm. I only wonder if I could knit fast enough to beat the oncoming spring!