A First for ME ...

On the way home from school on Friday Ms H. and I talked about Terry Fox as we walked ... The school here had just held their annual Terry Fox Run, and through the day her class had watched a movie about Terry and his Marathon of Hope ...

She asked me if I ever saw Terry ... I only saw him on the news ... but I told her, that I like thousands of other wept when Terry ended his Marathon on the edge of Thunder Bay (at a site we've stopped at numerous times) ... and I told her I really wept when his courageous battle with Cancer ended with death.

She said that his way of running looked funny and it was scary to see him struggle in the film on the last couple of days before he called it quits ...

I thought about it for a moment and said - "You know, it was the struggle that made him a real hero ..."

"But he kept saying that he wasn't a hero," said Ms H, "he said he was just a regular person ..."

"Maybe that's what made him a hero," I offered, "He just did what he believed in and showed the rest of us how it's done ... maybe that's the sign of a real hero ..."

We walked in silence for a bit as I remembered Terry Fox a Great Canadian, and a Real Hero ...

I remember him saying that his goal was to raise ONE DOLLAR from EVERY CANADIAN. Back then it would have been about 23 MILLION dollars in total ... That was Terry's goal - to raise one dollar from every Canadian to help in the fight against Cancer ...

I remember the image of Terry running along the side of the highway from Southern through to Northern Ontario (a highway I've driven dozens of times) with the black and white OPP car, its lights glowing, following him behind ...

I remember the song "Run Terry Run" that was played over and over as his Marathon caught the attention of the media and the rest of us as he hop-ran his way across Canada ...

I remember watching on TV when Terry Fox was presented with the Order of Canada ... I haven't seen the ceremony before or since ... but I HAD to watch it that day ...

I remember when he died ... and how unfair it all seemed ...

I remember standing in Toronto at an exhibit not long after Terry died, staring at one of his artificial legs, a worn and battered pair of running shoes, a wrinkled pair of grey shorts and a tee-shirt that proudly proclaimed: "Marathon of Hope." I still remember the tears that welled up in my eyes when I thought about what an amazing thing he did ...

But most of all, I remember that amazing thing that he started ...

Later today (it's after midnight) for the first time in my life, I will participate in the Terry Fox Run here in town ... Having the Terry Fox Run happen on Sundays has generally precluded me from participating, but this year Noahkila, Ms H, Beetle and I will join in and walk-run in support of this worthy cause.

I'll remember Terry and what he started ... and I'll give thanks for the ability to do this in his memory ... it's something I should have done a long time ago ...