Day 107 = Running + Father's Day

This morning, I woke up early, or as early as I could on a Sunday so I could run at Town Lake (now known as Ladybird Lake). I wanted to try out my new toe! And by new toe, I mean I had a cortisone shot in my left foot on Wednesday when I went in for a checkup with my sports medicine physician (who is totally cute, by the way). I ran 5 miles, and the toe still hurt. I'm going to have to make another appointment to see the cute doctor to get another shot, and I hate needles. Oh, the things we runners must endure (hot doctors).

Today is Father's Day, and I knew I would inevitably have to call my stepfather and wish him a happy day. I'd like to say for the record that my stepfather Richard is pretty awesome. In some ways, he's been more of a dad to me than my real father was. I still feel like a girl when he lets me lean up against his shoulder on the couch and watch a movie. He's been part of my life for most of my life, and my family could not have been more lucky or blessed to have him. But he's not my real dad. My Daddy passed away 17 years ago when I was 18. So I would be lying if I said I did not feel any resentment in wishing Richard a Happy Father's Day. It's not his fault, but it's just awkward after all these years still. I was going to rattle off some of the popular sayings my Daddy would walk around saying, but I can't track them down at the moment. He actually had a list of quotes he kept in his wallet and he'd pull out that list at parties and say those things in his charismatic way and people would eat it up. I guess you had to be there. He was pretty remarkable. Just as remarkable as my mom, of course!

I spent the late afternoon feeding the homeless. Not just passing out cans of soup from my car this time. I actually made sandwiches and drove around in a truck (Mobile Fishes and Loaves) and passed out sandwiches, chips, cookies, fruit and socks. I am fascinated with the homeless. I don't mean for that to sound belittling. It's just that I wonder how a person gets in this situation. It is said that 50% of the homeless are mentally disabled. But what about the other 50%? What about the kids?

We fed a lot of kids today. They came running up to the truck like it was the ice cream man. At one point, I was so slammed with requests for items, that I had to shimmy my way out of the crowd, walk around it and go to the other side of the truck so I could start filling another bag of rations to pass out. In the summer when the kids aren't in school, this might be one of the main ways these kids get fed all week.

We gave one guy a bag with two sandwiches, chips, two packs of cookies, a juice, an orange, some candy and a pair of socks. He said, "God bless you," and someone told him, "God bless YOU." He said, "He already did. You showed up."

I came home to my clean house with A/C and a full fridge and pantry. I am so thankful. If you are interested in donating items to Mobile Fishes and Loaves, please go to their site and find out how to donate and volunteer.