Don’t you love when you need a spanking and life gives you one?

I was in a hurry. Apparently a big, important one.

I needed to pack for the night, get downtown for a wonderful Spanish Tapas dinner with friends and then get over to the ACC to see people in their late 60’s and early 70’s swearing they were still Fleetwood Mac.

Because the next day we were doing the early morning Scotia Bank run, I was tearing apart teenage daughter’s scary, messy room trying to find my favourite warm black running tights. I ran out of time  and patience in scary messy room and had to grab my second favourite, warm, black tights.

I was cursing her, in her absence, on how she borrows and does not return my favourite things and how her room looks like a bomb went off. For a moment I was in a bad mood about tights. And then I swept into deep and dark regret about committing to the run when the weatherman was calling for super cold weather when Sunday morning beds are always warm.

There are times you forget that slight perturbances do not make your life bad, hard or less than beautiful.

5 minutes later I get an email from Owen’s mom, who I know but not well, telling me a story.

She too is doing the run, but the long one (half marathon) and she is pushing Owen’s 5 year old younger brother in a stroller for the entire run to raise money for his special school.

I watched the video on our way downtown.

It moved me to tears. I asked her if I could share it with you. I told her that when I was freezing at the start line for over an hour at daybreak in 2C at the waterfront, that I would get strength from her and from Rhys. I also decided not to get angry with teenage daughter over missing tights and bomb site. I kissed her instead.

Please do as I have done and make a donation here for Owen’s brother. Just like Owen, he is already good. But this school is helping him to be better.

And that seemed worthy to me.