Irene and I ran the 1K at this year’s Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run For The Cure. I am so grateful to have been a blog ambassador for the Run this year. THANK YOU to everyone who donated.
I almost forgot to tell you how the CIBC Run for The Cure went. And you must hear all about it because it was FANTASTIC.
First, Irene and I got to ride the subway downtown, just the two of us. One of Irene’s biggest fears about starting Grade One this year and doing full days for the first time was that she wouldn’t get enough time with me. (And now I’m getting all choked up thinking about how soon spending a Sunday morning with her mom is the last thing she’ll want to do. And wasn’t she just bouncing around in her Jolly Jumper, like, yesterday?)
How is this baby big enough to run an entire 1K?
We got off the subway at Museum station and got to walk through the U of T campus which is still one of my top five places in the world. I showed her Carr Hall, where my parents met in a Philosophy seminar in 1976, and where I myself took several classes. We walked across Queen’s Park and into the King’s College Circle where all the runners were gathered.
There were people decked out in tutus and tassels. There were people with pink extensions in their hair and pictures of their beloveds pinned to their backs. “I run for you.” There were speakers with moving stories and then a rock band to get us all moving as we lined up at our starting lines.
Irene was amazed. She looked around with big eyes and a bigger smile. “Look at them, Mama!” she said about a team decked out in crazy hats.
“Okay, Irene, here’s our plan,” I said. “It’s going to be a pretty long race so we’re just going to run slowly so we don’t get too tired and have to walk.”
“Like we’re going to jog? No, I want to run!”
“I know you do, honey, but you also want to run the whole race, don’t you? So let’s just go slowly.”
And we did run slowly. But we still wove our way around walkers and strollers and kids who sprinted ahead and then had to catch their breath. We kept going, right down the centre of St. George St, the beautiful fall sun lighting up the sky.
“I think I need to walk for a little bit,” Irene said, breaking stride, about half way.
“Try slowing down even more,” I said. “You can catch your breath while you’re still running if you just go a little slower. Here. Give me your jacket.”
She took off her jacket which seemed to renew her resolve and we ran with big, goofy grins all the way down to College and then back over to King College Circle.
When we hit the home stretch, people were lined up on either side cheering. There was an arch made of balloons at the finish line and Irene’s eyes lit up.
“Irene, let’s try running as fast as we can all the way to the finish line.”
And I wish I had a picture of her face just then. The mixture of pride and joy that was beaming out of that smile as her ponytail bobbed up and down and her little legs dug in harder and faster. But I couldn’t take a picture because I just wanted to run alongside her. I wanted to keep running with her forever.
We grabbed some water bottles at the finish line and sat down on a curb to rest.
“You know, I feel sad for Colum.”
“Why?”
“Because he didn’t get to have anyone cheering for him today.”
Indeed.
And I feel so incredibly grateful for getting to be a blog ambassador for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run For The Cure this year because I might never have known how easy it was to do something good with my Irene that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. I can hardly wait until next year.
A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED TO OUR TEAM. WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU.