Sad day.

Hi guys, I am officially back home and have so many wonderful things to fill you in on from my trip to Berlin, Munich and Prague.  I've started the entries and am still compiling everything from my week away and getting my life back in order here, but I will be posting about the trip soon!  Unfortunately I have some sad news to share first.

I mentioned at the end of May that my friend Kelly had been suddenly diagnosed with what turned out to be very aggressive cancer.  And tragically, on Friday, Kelly lost her battle with cancer and passed away.  I got the news while in Europe and I think I'm still in a bit of shock.  Arriving home late last night I wasn't able to attend the wake, but was at the funeral this morning with some co-workers and friends.  It was a sad but beautiful service honoring an incredibly happy, positive, caring, and loving woman.  It's hard to believe it's even real with how fast things happened and my thoughts are nonstop with Kelly's family at this time.

I wish I had something really positive and uplifting to end on, but honestly, I'm not sure what to say because sometimes, life just scares the hell out of me, guys.  And this is one of those times.  Just a few weeks ago we were talking about Weight Watchers and I was texting Kelly to get the details on some guys I thought were cute.  It all just happened so, so fast.

We texted a bit over the past few weeks while Kelly was in and out of the hospital.  However, what I can't get out of my mind is a message that she actually sent me over Twitter.  And although it makes me uncomfortable to say this, I guess it was the last tweet that Kelly sent out at all.  Kelly asked me to pray for her and run for her every day.

So tonight, that's what I did.  Despite jet lag, physical exhaustion, and being emotionally drained I went out and ran 3 miles for Kelly.  The first mile I ran I felt like I wanted to run away from the world.  Just run away from life and pain and sadness.  I felt like I was flying and I think it was the fastest mile I've ever run in my life.  My Garmin said it was at an 8:19 mile which is much faster than the 10ish minute miles I've been doing lately.

Thanks for the help today Kelly.  Thinking of you and your family. #runforKelly