Fat Guy in a Little TCM Race Bib

I got an email out of the blue yesterday from an old friend from high school asking about how Gracie is doing.  It’s so nice to have an old friend from across the country that I haven’t seen in years checking in on my little girl.   I filled him in a bit, although it quickly became obvious that he has been following the blogs and her caring bridge site, etc because he knew most of it.  He then asked how my weight loss effort was going – It was with disgust that I was forced to confess that I had been sidetracked a bit since Gracie’s last stay in the hospital and the eye issue coming back, etc –  He could tell how disappointed I am with myself for allowing these things to get in the way at which point he said “let me tell you a story…”   -- he proceeded to tell me that based on an email conversation we had a few months ago and hearing about my desire to get into shape for my girls, etc that he used that as part of his motivation – I looked back at that old email conversation and saw that he wanted to lose 25 lbs to get to his goal of 200, etc – well since then, he has turned everything around and has blown way passed his 25 lb goal and as of yesterday has lost 43 lbs.   I can’t tell you how proud that made me.  He has returned the favor and has kicked in my motivation again -- As if that wasn’t enough – I got an email yesterday as well from Scott Hedin with an offer from he and his wife Amanda through the Eden and Reagan Hedin foundation with the  amazing opportunity to work with them and Optum Health Performance for help with coaching to help me follow through with my goal to complete the TCM marathon in October – more on that soon when I get more details, but I’m 300 lbs right now am realistically back to getting winded walking to my truck after work – but mark my words -- daddythefatty will finish a marathon in October in honor of my daughters and their daughters and to show that they have taught us all how to fight.  I sat in my truck talking to him about this with tears in my eyes – The amazing new people we’ve met, the daily proof of our large network of support,  not to mention the generosity and prayers from complete strangers who follow Gracie’s story -- I cannot begin to tell you what Gracie has brought to our lives.