a post worth reposting…..

26 miles, 385 yards (written Oct. 31, 2009)

That's the distance my daughter, Cortney ran for the first time in her life last Sunday morning at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. Amazing!

It isn't so much the distance or the time or really any of that. It's about the distance she has traveled as a person, the dedication to reach this goal, the effort and now the joy. The bucket list has one less item.

I've written before about her, about how the walls around her are dismantled brick by brick, how they become victims of her tenacity, her diligence, her patience, and ultimately, her victory. She has the mentality of the tortoise in a world of hares.

I excused myself from a business dinner Sunday night in China for a much more important appointment, to track her progress on the internet through a series of checkpoints, watching her match identical times between the first 15 kilometers and the second 15 kilometers, mirroring the consistency of her life. Each time a new time came up I smiled the proudest smile a father could have from 8,000 miles away.

Cortney has never been about being the best, just the best she can be. And isn't that all a person can ask for? Way to go, Cortney!