Reminiscence.

This morning was my first “training run” for my two 5Ks this summer. Wasn’t too hard at all – just a 1.5 miler. Which is one of those distances where, if you get tired, you can speed up to make it go by quicker.

As I was putting my sneakers into my gym bag and thinking about the nice shiny new pair I was going to get, perhaps even this weekend, it struck me.

My gym sneakers have a lot of miles on them.

They ran off weight before my wedding, when I was completely freaked out about having pictures of me taken in a white dress.

They carried me through many summer mornings on the bike path when I ran off the stress of wedding planning.

They helped me run off the stress of a new marriage.

They helped me run off the stress of many busy seasons at my job.

They helped me run away from the worry that something was wrong with me when we couldn’t conceive for 6 months.

They carried me through infertility.

Through the doctor’s visits. Through the tests. Through the surgeries. Through shots. Through the fear that we’d never be parents.

And they carried both Baby O and I when I was finally pregnant, and walking through my morning “workouts.”

They’ve helped me push his stroller to the park on the weekends.

These running sneakers have been my constant over the past five years.* And though I’m not typically the type of person to hang onto things because of the past, I admit that the idea of tossing them into the garbage pains me.

But then I think about a shiny new pair of shoes. Who will carry me through two 5Ks this summer.

What will the NEXT five years be like?

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*Ok, yeah, so maybe I should have purchased a new pair of shoes a while ago. But I mostly just wear them at the gym now, and they’re still comfortable.