People always ask me how I can run.  It’s so boring, they say.  It’s not for me.  Honestly, it gives me time alone with my own thoughts.  Time to pray, daydream, plan for my day and mainly just relax.  Time truly for myself.

I start and end each run thinking of the same thing~ a boy named Sam.

Last January, I saw several posts on FB of people who had finished the Houston Marathon or the Half.  One post caught my eye~ a friend’s husband.  He had run for a charity~ Run for Our Sons.  I saw it and promised myself that this year, I would run the half for the same reason.

You need more info.

Back up to January 2013~ I’m chatting with a friend who had just found out she was pregnant with her third child.  Toward the end of the call, she asked for prayers. She was going to TCH that week to find out the results of some blood work for her son.  He had had some motor issues that she was concerned about early on.  She did all she could to find out if he was just hitting milestones a bit slower or if there was something indeed wrong.  Eventually, her son was in PT and then the pediatrician recommended she see a neurologist.  It took several months to get into TCH’s neurology department, but they finally saw the doctor in November of 2012.  The appointment in January was to go over the blood work.  The prayer was that there would be a clear answer and her son could move forward.

January 11, 2013, I got a text that read:  Sam has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Honestly, I didn’t know what that was.  I was sitting in the parking lot in front of the UPS store and googled it.

Then I just sat there in shock.  I cried.   Because what I read was horrible.  It’s a disease that affects muscles, making them grow weaker.  Duchenne is a fatal disease.  Period.  There is no cure.  Period.  According to the PPMD website, men generally live into their late twenties.

Late twenties.

This is the news that was thrown at my friend that day.  News that there was a countdown.  News no parent should have to hear regarding their child.

Sam is 2 weeks older than Snax.  Two weeks.  That means that he is in first grade. In first grade, he continues to go to therapy, is now wearing leg braces and has to take medication which will hopefully help slow down this awful disease.

There are no words to describe how I felt that day when I got Emily’s text.  I sobbed on the phone with her and vowed to pray and do whatever else I could to help.

I’m just the friend.  She and her husband have lived this harsh reality since January 11, 2013.  It never leaves their mind.  And they have chosen to fight.  They are raising money for PPMD through various fundraisers.  There is a fun run for Sam next month that Lance is MC-ing and they never give up.  Running the half was another way to raise money and awareness.

Now I am training for the Marathon in January.  I worry I won’t be able to run for basically 4 plus hours.  But I’m motivated by a little boy with the sweetest smile on his face and two amazing parents I’m proud to call my friends.

I’m posting a link to my fundraising page.  Really, it’s not mine.  It’s for Sam and all the other boys that have this miserable disease.  It’s not fair that anyone should live with this disease, so please help me raise money for a cure.  Any donation is appreciated.

I won’t lie and say I don’t like running.  I do, but each step is inspired by a little boy named Sam.