A time for catching up

Sunday, December 23rd

8:00 AM - 9 Miles, 61 min
Auburn
A slushy mess. Tried my best to stay on the back roads away from traffic.

Today was the only full day that I would be home over the holiday. We'll be leaving for the green mountain state in the morning to spend Christmas with my grandfather and then I head back to Medford to work on Wednesday. Fortunately, I was able to do a lot of catching up in this time. The majority of the afternoon was spent with the extended Morency side of the family (my mom's side). In this time, I had some really great conversations with aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, all which can also be called friends. I have never had one group be as collectively interested or supportive in my life as these have. You can always tell when someone is just pretending to be interested and I never felt that once in their presence.

After the Christmas party, I had an even greater bond with one of the many "rocks" in my life, non other than Dan Campbell. Campbell was my high school track coach, but really has been so much more than that. He was the one that first began the development of my passion for running. He fed my dreams and kept me motivated in the early years. Since then, I have had so many people add to that inspiration, and a lot of people guide me along the way, but I always go back to Campbell for advice on the big picture. We talked last night for over two hours and covered just about every aspect of my life... as it is now, and as it could be in several months or several years. Per usual, I left his house feeling better than when I arrived, a little less worried about what has (or hasn't) happened in my past and a little more excited about what could happen in my future.

Lastly, I concluded the evening by going over to Liz's house. I first spent time talking with her parents, who have always been so interested in my life's pursuits. Then after Mr. and Mrs. Eddy went to bed, I was able to spend some more quality time with Liz, DJ, and Joel, three amazing people that I know will always be in my life no matter where the journey takes me or what obstacles I encounter along the way.

I have mentioned all these people in the past but on this day, I just wanted to emphasize how much their presence is known.

Merry Christmas!