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Running Through the Years (Part 4 - Today)
I left my parents’ home in the dark, ready to begin a race with a two-mile running loop.
This is how my running adventures began forty years ago: out the back door of my parents’ Iowa home to run my two-mile route, beginning and ending in the alley behind our garage. Young and dumb, I almost always ran in the dark of night.
Running Through the Years (Part 3)
Through our 30s, with a daily whirlwind of backpacks, field trips, and daycare, Kristi, Angy, and I continued our 5:30 a.m. morning runs. As working moms with kids of the same age, these runs were equally therapy as exercise.
Monday Morning Meetings
“Oh, shit!” were my words as I pulled into my parking stall at work.
“Oh, shit, Mommy!!” four-year-old Grant mimicked back to me from his car seat.
Grabbing my bag with two minutes to spare at 6:58 a.m., I had just noticed that Grant was still in my back seat rather than playing with his daycare friends.
My plan was amiss.
Wonder Twins
“Wonder Twin powers, activate!!!”
My best friend, Bev, and I recited these words as we touched our plastic rings together. And then, without another breath, we went into a free-fall from her garage rafters.
The Garden
The huge garden on my parent’s farm southeast of Remsen, Iowa, was in the north corner of the east side of the big barn on a hog lot long ago abandoned but rich with “aged” manure.
Running Through the Years (Part 2)
A blond ponytail flapped in the wind like a pony’s tail swatting a fly. This was my rear-view visual on a recent run.
The ponytail belonged to a runner, much faster and younger than me.
As the young runner charged into the distance, my mind played the Miley Cyrus song “Used To Be Young.”
A Day to Remember
“Where were you...?” There have been only two meaningful events in my lifetime where these words have been uttered . One was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (November 22, 1963), in which I lived through, however I was only 5 1/2 years old and the other was the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
Running Through the Years (Part 1)
Running became a part of my life in the late 70s. It was officially called jogging at the time and became the exercise rage. My dad decided to give it a try and would jog after work. As a pre-teen and my dad's after-work sidekick, I decided to join him.
The Leisure Athlete
“Hey, the new neighbors are moving in. They look like they’re our age and seem fit.”
This was my enthusiastic call to my husband, Garrett, seconds after I pulled out of our driveway. The house across the street, empty for months, was now brimming with activity.
A League of Their Own
“Who is that on the field?”
My friend Bev and I asked each other this question as we squinted from the baseball bleachers. We tried to make out the unknown player running in from the outfield. Although blending in with the other boys catching fly balls, we noted something was amiss on the baseball field.
“Is that Kim Schorg??”
Movin’ on Up
My new boss, Jo, stood behind me. I was in a strange area enclosed by carpeted walls extending just above my seated head. This would be my first introduction to a cubicle. Unbeknownst to me, this work setup would be the office norm of my professional future.
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
“Today is your day, you’re off to great places! You’re off and away! (Dr. Seuss..)
“Army-Brat!” Although my father was in the Air Force, the name given to children of families in the service who “transfer” from base to base is “army brat!” I never understood that as it incorrectly labeled us (I thought anyway).
When Things Aren’t as They Seem
Scrolling through my Threads feed, a post caught my eye. A full-size bear in the China Zoo was standing upright. The caption said it was a bear, but it sure looked like a man in a costume.
B.L.
Sitting across from my ex-husband, Scott, at a favorite Mexican restaurant, I noticed that our once large party had dwindled down to three. It was on this trip back to Omaha that the seats once occupied by friends, our sons, and Scott’s wife were now empty.
My Barbie World
“What?? You really want to see Barbie? YOU liked Barbies?”
This was my husband, Garrett’s response after telling him I wanted to see the Barbie movie. My answer to his question was not just a yes, but a resounding yes. Not only did I like Barbies, but they were my favorite toy.
The Hottest Day of the Year
“You were born on the hottest day of the year!”
This was the beginning of the story my grandpa would tell my mom every year on her birthday. It was the story of her birth.
Walking Through our Iowa Summers
As a child, I stood watching my grandma as she meticulously wrote my check in her careful cursive. With an amount in the hundreds, it took extra time for her to fill the line where the dollars were written. This was a rite of passage.
Jerry’s Kids
Labor Day weekend in the 1970s included a television telethon that tuned us into Jerry Lewis begging us to help ‘his kids’. Jerry’s Kids were the unfortunate children afflicted with Muscular Dystrophy. Wiping sweat from his brow, Jerry would joyfully thank his viewers for their generous contributions.
The Boys of Summer
It is impossible for me to think back to my childhood summers without associating them with baseball. A dusty field full of dirty boys strategically built next to our town swimming pool fills my memory.
Field of Dreams
I wrote this story in 2012 about my family’s 2002 CWS experience. The story was published in the Omaha World Herald on June 27, 2012. The College World Series will always hold a special place in my heart and my boys.
