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The Vote

Today I visited a two-year old daycare classroom where my friend teaches.  I was discussing with her how I had just voted and so she asked the darling two-year olds who were sitting eating snack if they voted.  Many answered, "Yes", but she could have asked, "How many of you have antlers?" and the response would still have been the same.  Oh the sweet innocence.  There was one girl who answered "yes" to the voting question so my friend asked her who she voted for.  With a big smile on her face she answered, "Candy!". 

Now that is a platform I can get behind!

Jacket

This past weekend I took place in the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K in Chicago, IL.  Let me emphasize the "5K" part of that title!  It was a fun race to take part in and with 40,000 runners/walkers it was the largest race by far that I have participated in.  The charity benefiting from the race was the Ronald McDonald House which is a well deserving cause.  Another way runners could give to a cause was by shedding their clothes.  Any clothes taken off at the starting line or during the race (don't worry there were no streakers) were donated to a mission in Chicago.  While I was waiting in my corral before the run began there were these two women who got in line right next to me and I notice that one of them was wearing a very nice Columbia fleece jacket.  Just before the horn buzzed us to our destiny of 3.1 or 9.3 miles for the morning the lady took her Columbia fleece jacket off and hung it on the fence and said, "You have been a great coat, now go be great for someone else".  I couldn't help but get choked up.  The giving spirit some people have is just an awesome thing to witness. 

Now there may be people who read this and think, "What is the big deal, it is just one jacket?".  Well my friends I would like to direct you to one of my favorite stories:

There was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing.

He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach

and saw a human figure moving like a dancer.

He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day,

and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man,

and that what he was doing was not dancing at all.

The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects,

and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"

asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out.

If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented,

"But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach

and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean.

As it met the water, he said, "I made a difference to that one!"

 

My running mate Ashley and I after our race!



 

I challenge everyone to find a starfish or jacket :)

 

And Make A Difference