Today is a gift

Today... I've been wondering about this day for a while.  My dear friend Kathy has been really sick for 6 months.  She was the receptionist at our church who was amazing at directing and welcoming and just making everyone feel like they were heard when they called.

That title, as important as it was, and she did it so amazingly well.... was the ppps.. on her resume of "things that Kathy Fairley kicked butt at in the world."

Today was her funeral. I am the funeral/memorial service planner at our church.  This was an actual funeral as there was a casket.  It was hand made by her son in law.  It was quite beautiful.  The funeral home brought it and we put it in a room.  I wasn't prepared for my emotions... I directed them to the room and then I stood there and looked at the casket and realized that Kathy was in there, I mean, her body was.  I teared up.  I knew that Kathy was in Heaven, but I knew her earthly body was in there, it just freaked me out a bit.

Fast forward, the service began with her grandkids escorting the casket in.  It was very moving. Then the service ensued. Morris gave a great message about how Kathy lived her life here and that she began her eternal life by living here. There were tributes made by her friends and family.  The theme was that Kathy engaged with people.  She asked questions about her friends, she remembered and she explored the world and met people.  Kathy was the most interesting person who had the most amazing stories to tell, but you would never know that, you would come away from a conversation with her having just told her all of your information.  This world is mourning the loss of Kathy, but Heaven is rejoicing.  I'm so sad and so happy at the same time.

The parting shot of her service.... her grandkids escorting the casket out.  Zeek, who had shared at the service about his Grandma being "awesome" and how young kids today throw around words like 'awesome' and 'epic' and 'amazing' and how his grandma was awesome, in the true sense of the word.  He'd given that really "spot on" message... and then he walked the casket out with his cousins and sibling... he was at the head of the casket just having both hands on and head down... it literally made me sob.

People stayed and visited and food was served and I had this ongoing memory of other services where I was "on" and Kathy was at the front desk saying, "You're so good at this, you really are."  She was such a good cheerleader.  I really just love Kathy so much.  As this day has wound down, I've just been pondering about how we can be here in this world and make a difference, not in a big way, but in the slow and steady way like Kathy.  Just find the joy in life and engage in people and show Jesus' love.  In the middle of her service a homeless guy wandered in.  He was scruffy, he smelled a little, but he wanted a small Bible, one he could stash in his pack.  I found him one, he asked, "How much?"   I told him to take it... he saw the cookies and said "Cookies!"  I gave him one. He was so thankful.  I couldn't help but think that Kathy would LOVE that.

Kathy, I know you wouldn't want your service to be about you, it was and it wasn't.  It was about you and Jesus.  It was beautiful.  I love that you're in Heaven. I look forward to the day I see you again friend.  I love you.

Annie

The Olympic Trials

I was going to wait to write a blog about the Olympic Trials, but I can't stand it after today.  Quite a while back, Bruce bought 2 tickets to the whole thing.  All nine glorious days of them.  We weren't sure about which kids would be available or which of us would be so we figured 2 tickets would be a good number. It has been. I could go on and on about all the cool things that we've seen, but I will talk about today, for now.  Today we actually bought extra tickets because it was the final of the 5k and the men's Steeple, both events that Dudley Distance geeks love!

 As it happened today, Megan is gone, so the boys and us went down and met up with Taylor, a Whitworth teammate.  We got there early to look around and Bruce and I grabbed a table by the main stage.  As luck would have it, they interview Madeline Manning (one of my heroes) and Mac Wilkens and also Roger Kingdom.  Very cool.  I snapped a pic on my phone.  We sit there some more and then Bruce says, "There's your girl."  I look and Madeline Manning is standing 20 feet from us.

 Now, let me back up... to 1980.  I was fortunate enough to come to the Trials in 1980 with my aunt and sister and cousin.  We had a blast, it was so fun for this farm kid/runner to witness all the awesome runners.  At that time, we happened upon one Madeline Manning, sporting an awesome afro... I had watched her race and knew she was a wicked fast 800 meter runner, so I walked over for an autograph.  She was so kind back then and talked to me, I don't remember much, but she signed my paper.  When I looked down at it afterward, it said "Madeline Manning, Running for Jesus."  I have a very clear memory of thinking, "Wow, she loves Jesus and she is telling everyone."  At that point in my life, I knew all about Jesus and God and all that, but I hadn't really made any decision to follow Him.  That, as I look back, was one of the many ways God pursued me.


Today I had the opportunity to tell her that.  I briefly said that I had met her in 1980 and she'd signed that autograph and shortly after I'd decided to follow Jesus.  At that point, she hugged me.  It was a really cool moment in my life.  Honestly, I have thought about her quite a bit.  It was just one of those things.  I do love how God works.

I know that I'll see other cool things during the Trials, but I feel like this is the one that God had for me.  Thanks.  Great day.

The Long Drive

Graduation articulation!

I have a son who is a college graduate.  I am mighty proud of that fact... let's just sit on that a bit.  The title of this blog doesn't really speak to that, but I'll get to it.  Let me back up four or so years to August of 2008.  This was when we took Tyler off to school.  I remember this "long drive" oh so very well.  We loaded up in our Honda Pilot and a Thule on top and got all of his stuff plus the two parents and Tyler in there.  I chose the back seat.  We left Salem, OR for Spokane, WA.  A 6 hour trek.  We took off and things were fairly normal.

 Let's back up a bit... I'd been anticipating Tyler leaving for a while and had had a few minor meltdowns.  My first little chick leaving my nest.  I was a sad mama.  I was very happy for where he was headed.  Whitworth seemed like a good fit, but I was still a bit... sad.

We headed North and East.  I was doing fine and then we hit the Tri-Cities, which is where Grandma and Grandpa Dudley live.  Now, we had lived in Spokane when Ty was a baby up until he was 7.  We'd travelled to the Tri Cities many, many times during that time frame.  So, when we hit that stretch of road... all these old memories started hitting me of us driving that route when Tyler was a baby/toddler/young boy.  My mind just went back there and I was quite weepy.  I was glad to be in the backseat... I don't think Bruce or Ty noticed, but I was crying a good bit of that last 2 hours.

We got to Spokane, stayed in our hotel which was right by Riverfront park.  The night before "dorm move-in day" Tyler stayed with us, we took a walk through the park and his comment when we saw the giant Radio Flyer Wagon slide... "Wow, I always thought this was much bigger."  Well, Tyler, you were much littler when you  last saw it. We moved him in the next day, we met his teammates and his coach.  It all seems quite surreal to me now, but as I look back... what a monumental day... the day he met his amazing TEAM mates and Toby, the best coach ever!

I was doing great, lots of busyness to attend to. Met his roommate, got him moved in.  A nice little dorm room.  I think we took him to dinner and then we were to drop him off at the "XC house" for a TEAM building movie night or something... last time to see him - moment of Mommy horribleness. I still remember that moment like it was yesterday... I got out of the car, I hugged him and said "Do good."  Wow, really powerful stuff... I was maybe a foreshadow of the movie "The Help"... You is good... Really?@#!?  Do good?  Oh well, it was done.  And then I proceeded to bawl the whole way down Division St. in Spokane... any Spokanites reading this... you can appreciate how long that is... we stayed in a hotel by the convention center... WAY the heck down there!

Ok, now onto the other part of the "Long Drive" that this blog speaks of.  We just spent this past weekend celebrating Tyler's graduation from Whitworth.  What an amazing weekend.  I loved every bit of it.  I love where my son spent the last 4 years.  I love the friends he made.  I had the best time celebrating this event this past weekend.  I did, however, have a "long drive" home.  Trent, our second born boy is now a sophomore at Whitworth and we needed to move him home plus bring some of Tyler's stuff, thus the need of two vehicles. This is where the other "long drive" comes into effect.  I had to drive the trek.  We set out Monday morning and I had my mocha and was quite fine driving along, but had this immediate thought.  I was driving this reverse route of 4 years ago and not feeling the least bit weepy or sad.  I had this feeling of... contentment.  I'd just spent this weekend of hearing about Tyler's accomplishments.  Witnessing his amazing friendships.  Hearing the testimonies of other Whitworth grads and knowing what a fine institution Ty graduated from.  I just felt like God was telling me that everything was just the way He intended it to be.  Tyler doesn't have a job yet, but I know he will get one.  I'm not worried in the least.  My "long drive" was quite pleasant.  Thank you God for where you directed Tyler and for what You have planned for him, I cannot wait to see.

Mama Duds.

Perfection

About the time Philip Humber was pitching the 21st perfect game in Major League history, I was completely unaware of the happenings... and I am a Mariner fan, so I very well could have been, but I had more important things to do.  I was watching the amazing Whitworth Pirates compete in the Northwest Conference Track meet.  I too, was witnessing a pretty perfect thing.

I will try my best to succinctly repeat the awesomeness that were those 2 days.  The men's team had a goal of "3 pete" where they wanted to win for the third year in a row and also score 300 points.  A lofty goal, for sure.  The winning part, barring a lot of mishaps, was pretty doable.  On paper we were supposed to win by quite a margin, but the most any team had ever scored was quite a bit shy of 300.  I'm gonna be a spoiler right here, we didn't get the 300 points, we won easily with 270.  I still think I witnessed some pretty perfect performances.

They won 9 first places out of 20 events.  They were on the award stand (top 3) more times than I can count.  Our pole-vaulter won and then promptly finished 4th in the hundred meters... interesting double?  Obviously doable.  Our throwers are amazing!  The "gentle giants" got more medals and threw things further than I can articulate.  The 4x1 team won again!  Flawless handoffs.  The jumpers reaped huge points for us, leaping up and out so far, it boggles the mind.  Frank, the high jump winner, stood between the 2nd and 3rd place guys and appears like a foot shorter.  He's not your typical 6 ft. plus high jumper, but the kid has springs!  One of the decathletes (Coop)  got a PR and 4th, higher than expected.

That's my best attempt at recap for the events I'm not as brushed up on.  Now, onto the distance and mid-distance!  Steven Acosta, oh my... a cross country runner trapped inside a soccer player's body.  He ran so well.  Took 2nd in the 1500 where he "tweaked" his hamstring.  So, what do you do when you tweak your hammy?  Of course, go out and run an amazing 800 meter and take 2nd place and score 8 more points for your TEAM.  Side note, all season he's been training with Tyler or more accurately, Ty's been training with him in order to get some speed.  (more on this later)
Steven wasn't the only distance kid to bring it... Shane Polley and Tyler earned points in the Steeple.  Ty got 2nd and Shane took 7th.  The 10k was grueling as usual.  Poor Aaron has been battling a back thing, but powered through the 25 laps for 4th.  Tim placed 6th, much better than expected and gritted through the middle like a champ with blood blisters to show for it.  My Trent ran this as well, didn't score a point, but PR'd and puked his guts out afterward, worthy of mention.

Day 2:  More excitement for our distance boys.  I already mentioned Mr. Acosta above, in the 1500 Taylor and Mark were also in attendance.  Both achieved maximum performance and scored points higher than expected.  I seriously screamed so loud in all these races it's beyond normal.  I realize I'm not the average "lovey mom", I scream encouragement mixed with challenges/orders... I know they most likely don't hear me, but I do it anyway.

Now, the only event left is the 5k. (we also had the 4x4, but for drama's sake, work with me)  We had 3 entries, Aaron, Tim and Tyler.  Ranked 10, 11 and 12 in a field of 12.  Not great odds.  Each kid had a goal of scoring, period!  Times aside, just race and score for the TEAM. We'd already won, easily, but they wanted to add to the score.  Gun goes off, racers start.  A pedestrian pace for a mile.  Then lap 5 the kid from Willamette pops off a 66.  Leaves the field.  The rest begin to adjust and the "pack" starts to trail off.  Race ensues, Tyler moves up a bit.  I'm watching with his old teammate Dusty and another alumni guy who I shall call "my victim".  Anyway, as things progress, we're getting down to the final laps, "my victim" is kinda doing this Howard Cosell play by play.  It's cool, cuz I'm not really focusing at this point.  Last lap:  Tyler is at 300 meters to go and in 6th, I think.  At this point, that's cool, remember, he just wanted to score and that's 8th.  "My victim" says "Dudley took 5th... oh my gosh, he's in 4th... (at this point I began jumping up and down and hitting "my victim" (thus the name))  and bless his heart, didn't skip a beat, even with the beating... he says "He took 3rd!"  We both jumped up and down screaming and starting running for the finish... it's all a bit of a blur, but basically, everybody rushed Ty, Mark was hugging him, Aaron was hugging him (btw, Aaron took 8th in a gallant effort with his horrible back and having already run his 10k)  It was the dream race for Ty's senior year Conference Meet.  I caught my breath, apologized to "my victim" and he was gracious, probably a bit scared (good instinct).  I still get a bit teary thinking of Tyler's amazing race.  The culmination of so many years of hard work when nobody was watching.  I must give the due credit to his buddy Acosta for the hours of training and teaching him speed.  Also to Toby who never gave up on Tyler tapping into his speed.  What an amazing coach Toby is.

That is the portion of the meet that was throwing, running, jumping and any other "ing" I'm leaving out.  The "perfection" part, however is the fact that my boys are on a TEAM that is getting it right.  Yes, they won, but that's not the perfect part, the part I love is on Friday night when all the seniors spoke and the theme was that at Whitworth, track and field isn't an individual sport, it's a TEAM sport and the things they learned weren't just how to be stronger and faster physically, it was about the relationships with each other and their spiritual journeys.  This is perfect.  My sons are on a TEAM who gets it.  Their coach is amazing and I couldn't ask for a better place for them at this season of their lives.  I'm so blessed that God directed them there.

This weekend left me with virtually no voice, a sunburn, a sore back (apparently, leaning over and screaming can make your back hurt when you're old) and a great appreciation for where my sons have landed.  Ty's about to take off from there as he graduates next month, but I feel confident that he'll be just fine with the foundation he received from there.

So, we didn't have a perfect game, we won't be in any hall of fame, but I sure wouldn't have missed it for the world.  Good job Bucs!  Way to represent!

Mama Duds

Back among the running

Hey all,

Happy St. Patricks Day! I celebrated this morning with the first annual "Dudley Shamrock Run"!

As luck would have it and I don't even think I have any Irish as part of my heritage, but on this day I was feeling lucky. As luck would have it, I won all the age groups, both genders. I ran a glorious 30 minutes circling muddy Bush Park. I am fairly certain that all the other participants were unaware they were in the race... but ahem, a victory is a victory. I mean, I felt like Norfolk State or Lehigh... poor runners didn't know what hit them. They, like Missouri and Duke are probably still reeling in their locker rooms.

In all seriousness, this day marked my first real "run" in almost a year. I've been battling my hamstring injury and am officially in the final stages of my "return to run" program that I began after months of exercises and PT. In the 30 minutes I'm allowed (increasing slowly from here) I covered 2 and 1/4 laps around Bush, so that's roughly 3 miles and some change. Nothing stellar in terms of speed, but I felt great, the sun was shining, my shoes are muddy and I feel the normal soreness of a runner who hasn't been running. All of these things, I count as awesome!

If you're reading this, I'll let you in on a little secret. I may have a very cool goal to work toward. I can't talk about it yet, but you'll be the first to know when I can. Until then, you can bet I'll be flying high on endorphins and sweat. Aaaah...

Dudster

Ode to my bro Yo!

Today is my brother Marty's 48th birthday! He was born on Feb. 28, 1964, the year of the flood as we've all heard. It was a leap year as this is, but he was actually born on the 28th, not the 29th. My brother is the 2nd of us 4 kids. We always say "us kids" when we talk about us, it's weird. We were like a herd of Halls. The thing is, though, is that poor Mart was the only boy child. Yikes! He was fortunate that none of us "Hall girls" were super girlie, but let's face it... poor Mart!

There were some rules to being a Hall kid. To name a few: 1) Do your chores, do your homework, in that order. 2)No screaming unless your head was on fire. My Dad was pretty mellow, but he did NOT enjoy a screaming girl. First thing we schooled our friends on. 3) No hitting girls. This one was for Marty. Again, poor Mart! If I were his mom, I would have let him beat the crap out of us. We were rotten sisters. Let me digress on this one... Marty was/is the kindest hearted kind of soul. He was also a bit naive. The wily girls could fool him every time. We convinced him to get into the squeeze shoot designed for cattle. We just wanted to see if it worked on humans... we would let him out.. at least that's what we told him. Oh yeah, he got in there and it worked, btw, on humans. We then proceeded to pommel him with water and dirt clods and who knows what else. Horrible girls! I believe this occurred more than once as did other torture sessions. And by the way, he never got that mad at us, he would just laugh and be a good sport. Gentle giant.

Another thing I remember about my brother is this one time a bigger kid was picking on me and my friends at recess. I lamented at dinner that night. The next day, my brother and his friends had a little chat with that kid and my friends thought that was the coolest thing ever. I just kinda strutted around the playground like I was pretty cool. In all fairness, he should have let the kid put me in a squeeze shoot and torture me, but "Us Hall kids" had to stick together.

So, on this day of my brother Marty's birth, I am commemorating his "brotherness"! Marty, I appreciate what an awesome brother you've been. I also admire the kind of son, husband, dad, Uncle, friend and grandpa you are. You are a wonderful man of God and I am blessed beyond measure for having you in my life. I'm also really glad that for 2 months you are 3 years older than me.... Sucka!!!

Love you Mart!

Happy 2012

Another year is rearing its head for us to ponder about. It always seems a bit silly to me, the new year frenzy. The resolutions, the crowded cardio equipment at the gym for 3 weeks or so until the resolutions wear off. The countdowns of the best of ... you name it for the previous year. I, personally, enjoy all the commercials for weight loss this and that... the quit smoking stuff, it is a bit much. Why does it take the "New Year" to inspire change for the better?

On the other hand... if it does take the New Year, then why not embrace it and make a change? This year, I have been thinking about what I'd like to do this year. I have some goals. Some personal goals that I've shared with God and that will suffice. I also have some prayers, which I've also shared with God, but don't mind sharing with any folks who happen upon here too.

I have been working really hard at rehabbing my hamstring for the last several months. I am making progress and have a real hope and a prayer of running within the next month. Praise God and my PT Josiah. This has been the longest I haven't run, other than pregnancies, my whole life. It's been brutal and also a learning tool. I listened to a sermon from Steve Fowler tonight on suffering, he was eloquent and my "not running" has been tough, but I don't liken it to the suffering he spoke of. I do, however, have a person in mind who has been suffering and if he could run again, oh boy, that would be a huge answer to prayer and God would be glorified.

That brings me to my number one New Year's goal and prayer. I have been praying for my good buddy John Stumbo to run again since October of 2008. This was when he became deathly ill. I prayed for him to live at that time, but quickly segued into praying for him to get better to run on our Hood to Coast team. Let's back up to September of that year, I decided to do a Hood to Coast team of staff members at Salem Alliance. John was the first to commit, I can still remember the day he came to my desk and said "I'm in. Let me know when to write the check." I put in for a team that October, literally the week he became sick was the deadline. The day I found out we got a team was a day we heard a bit of good news in his battle. I honestly, at that point, still held out hope that he'd get better and be running with us. Well, we ended up changing our name from "SAC religious" to Stumbo's Prayer Warriors. We handed out cool rubber bracelets with our team name on them to other teams, we told John's story, we prayed for John on each leg, it was cool. But John wasn't there. He did see our team off, in his very fragile state. He didn't get to run.

John continued to battle, I managed to get a team for 2 more years, we were still the "Stumbo's Prayer Warriors" we had "Run John Run" as our slogan for the second year. That was cool, we tagged teams with magnets that said they'd been prayed for. That is the pic on this blog, with John sending us off again. But he still couldn't run. This past year, we handed out magnets again and still prayed and still John wasn't running. I put in for a team this year and we were turned down. It's a lottery, we didn't get in. John still isn't running.

I mentioned my long haul hamstring injury. I've been going to my PT who is located on S River Road. I drive by Minto Brown to go there. One day I was uber early and felt compelled to drive into Minto and pray for John to run. I literally, drove around the parking lot and prayed aloud... begged God for John to run. I have been doing that on almost every visit to my PT, I go twice a week. I drive around Minto praying for John to run. I have this fervor.. this burning in my heart that John should run this year. I can't describe it, I thought that I should keep it to myself, but as it's morphed... I feel led to share it. To any who read this, please pray for John. I know that the running gene is a rare thing, few of us have it, but if you do, you know... John has suffered a bunch from his illness, but his inability to run, to do what God made him to do... has been among the greatest suffering that he's done. I am convinced of this.

And so, this 2012, I hope many people lose weight, quit smoking, go to the gym... etc. etc. etc... all of these resolutions will be great! I pray that my friend John Stumbo will have the amazing feeling of running with the wind in his face, the endorphins flowing through his veins, the most amazing feeling in the world in his heart... run like the wind John... this is my prayer.