Beautiful Writing, Beautiful Reminder

I’ve never met Kathleen Hooks and before this morning, I’d never read her blog. Here’s all I know about her. She was a runner. She’s a gifted writer. She has a pretty smile. She has Multiple Sclerosis.

Her blog post today is about her visceral memories of the pain and joy of running. Prepare to be moved.

Let me be clear, I have no delusions: running hurt, and there were days (lots of days) when I whined and complained and wished I had one iota of the hand-eye coordination that other sports necessitated.  But I didn’t, so I ran.  And though it occasionally made my muscles burn and my mouth taste like blood from the overuse of my lungs in the cold weather, it became part of my identity.