Today

Monday. 

Today would have been Buddy and Barbara's 41st wedding anniversary. Buddy always used to joke that they were married on Tax Day and he always paid all of his dues on the same day. 

Today my friend Melanie lost her battle with liver cancer, leaving behind her husband Tim and their two young children.

Today explosions rocked Boston during the Boston Marathon, killing some and injuring others. 

Today I tried to enjoy time with my kids in light of all of this, and they challenged my patience more than usual with homework and bedtime.

Today has been hard.

I'm encouraged by this quote from C.S. Lewis today: "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." 

My family, my friends, the runners and their families, and the people of Boston are all in my prayers tonight.

Something Bold

I'm doing something bold.

I've just signed up to run my first 10K. The Bolder Boulder on May 27 in Boulder, Colorado.

But I'm not just doing it for me.

One of my camp counselors at Camp Horizons, Melanie (Rotz) Hartman has been fighting Poorly Differentiated Neuroendocrine Carcinoma- a rare liver cancer- for more than a year and a half.

Camp Horizons friends at my wedding in 2003: Francie Iliff Van Ostenbridge, Mel, me, Julie Laffey Szerenyi.

She and her husband Tim live in Minnesota with their two kids- Reid (6) and Autumn (4).

Would you consider sponsoring my run as a fundraiser for the Hartman family? Mel is a runner and she is not able to run right now. You can send a donation of any amount via Paypal (kimberlysbetts at yahoo.com) or email me for my mailing address.

I'm taking Mel's lead and living for the moment, stepping outside the box and challenging myself!