Day 54: Memories & Funerals

I ran around Rancho Park today. As my readers know I am training for a marathon. On Saturday's I like to run at the beach, but today I couldn't get there so I ran the park. As I listened to all the cheering Mom's and the sound of the bat cracking as the ball hit it, I was reminded of all the magnificent memories I have of spending a decade at this park watching my three boys swing the bat. I watched the little one's in their little uniforms and could so clearly see my boys when they were that age. Now one son plays college baseball and two sons play High School Baseball. While it has only been one year since we played Cheviot Hills Pony League, it feels like a lifetime ago. The year has been full. But as I ran past the packed bleachers with hopeful parents, and grandparents and little toddler siblings I flashed back to all the incredible memories our Simon family created at this park. I had a warm, wonderful feeling as I ran down Pico blvd.

Then I ran past the beautiful Church on the corner of Pico and Beverly Glen Boulevards and the musical church bells were ringing. I thought oh maybe it's a wedding... I still love to see the bride as she leaves the church, it's one of those magical images that still makes me smile. Unfortunately what I saw was a coffin covered with an American Flag. I almost had to stop my run to watch. Was this a veteran's funeral? Had this person served in our military? Was it a young person or an older person? I slowed my pace to almost a walk so I could watch; almost as if I needed to stop to pay my respects. As the coffin was carried up the steps with the red, white, and blue draping it, I had another sensation come over my body. If I died today would I be happy about the life I had lived?

A really deep soul searching question to ponder when you are out on a Saturday afternoon run. I had just had fond memories stirred up by the young athletes and their cheering parents and now I was thinking about a person who was being put to their final resting place. Funny what your mind tossles with when you are given the space to think and observe. Had I been listening to music while running maybe I wouldn't have noticed the funeral or been drawn to watch. Either way, it really did give me pause and make me think about life.

I feel incredibly blessed to be healthy, to have experienced love and parenthood, to have a big full complicated family, to have preformed work that challenges me, and to have an abundance of friends I cherish. So while I may yearn for the days when the boys were still playing ball at the park, I will always cling to those memories because they remind me of a very rich life lived. If death came today, I would be at peace.