For Bonnie

My mom had a best friend named Bonnie. I knew her all my life. She was really more of an aunt to me even though we weren’t related. She was diagnosed with colon cancer about ten years ago and she passed away in 2000.

She was in hospice care for the last few days of her life and I remember driving my mother’s car to her house the day she died. I was listening to Sarah McLachlan’s “Hold On” pretty much on repeat. (Specifically, the one from Mirrorball) I am not sure if my mom noticed the lyrics or not:

“So now you’re sleeping peaceful
I lie awake and pray
That you’ll be strong tomorrow and we’ll
See another day and we will praise it
And love the light that brings a smile
Across your face”

She passed away that day. I don’t think about her that often, truthfully, but when that song, and specifically that version, comes on my Ipod, it always takes me right back to driving my mother’s green Honda Accord down…I can’t remember the road..to go to her house.

I was 4.5 miles into my 5 mile run when it came on my Ipod. Bonnie never knew me as a runner; I didn’t start until several years after she passed. I thought about how proud she would have been of me. As cheesy as this sounds, I really thought that the last half mile would be for Bonnie. I cranked the treadmill up to a 8:34 minute mile and (for me) sprinted the last half mile of today’s long run.