My heart is bursting

Ohhhhh my goodness you guys. My heart is literally bursting even now like 12 hours later. I have to share this story.

So last night was Asher’s first “mock” cross country meet (just his own team, at the school, during practice). But they had to run an official course around the soccer and baseball fields, up some hills, etc. A big loop, 3 full times, to equal the 2 mile distance.

Asher did great!! He ran the whole time and really looked strong and I think was happy with his time.

I was volunteering/manning a “cone” up on the far end of the course, so I really only saw him when he looped by my station. He ran by on his 3rd and final lap, and then disappeared down the hill and then on to finish the race.

A little while later, another mom/ friend who was at another cone from a better vantage point yelled over to me, “Didn’t Asher already come by the 3 times??” I replied that yes, he was done.

She then said, “Well, I can see him running up the hill again!” I was confused, but then she squinted to look and said, “Oh, wait! I see what he’s doing. He’s running with “D!” (privacy initial for a boy on his team!).

This friend of his was struggling a bit to keep up in the race, and had fallen into last place and was all alone. He was still chugging along, though! Asher had already finished when his friend still had one whole lap to go (another 2/3 mile or so).

So, even though I’m sure he was tired, Asher ran an entire extra lap, alongside his friend to support him and help him finish so he wouldn’t be alone! As they passed by my station, the boy needed a walk break, so I heard Asher encouraging him, “Ok, let’s walk for the count of 5, and then run again, ok?”

O.M.G. I wanted to die. It was the sweetest thing I have literally ever seen. And I was SO PROUD!!!! Another friend of theirs who had also finished joined in, too, and I got this pic. They ran on either side of him the whole rest of the way.

PROUD MOM MOMENT. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Also- thanks for the anniversary wishes yesterday! We went out for a nice dinner last night, but none of my photos are that are particularly “share worthy”. 🙂 We had wine and steak and salad and pasta and now I’m full for a few days. 😉

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for the opportunity for Asher to do cross country. It’s new at their school this year, and so far it has been a great experience for him.