"Carve this on your heart"

I had a dad with a heart of gold.

I remember the day my little sister Maggie called with inconsolable tears, to tell me her heart was breaking as she watched "the most intelligent man I have ever known" begin to lose his mind.

I remember the terror of Alzheimers when dad would be lost in the neighborhood, believing he was not only in a different city or state but several times thinking he was in a different country.
The moments of despair when we imagined him getting better only to be told that things would worsen again and quickly so.
There were moments of sweet humor ( sometimes it was best to just laugh ) such as the time that Ron and I were driving with dad, somewhere in Colorado, when he looked across at Ron and said, "remember Ron when we shot that big buck?" Not only had Ron and dad never before been hunting, but dad had never shot anything in his life.

Ron without missing a beat, answered "of course I do, that was a great day".
It brought a brief joy to see dad sit there quietly staring out the car window with one beautiful satisfied smile.

Yesterday 23 of us ran and walked the Alzheimer's Aid Race here in Sacramento. It was one of those magical days. Knowing that emotion may fell me at any turn, I choose to walk with four of our Team, Kris, Julie, Scott and David, and simply enjoy the moments.

Huge thrills to see little Alana in her new Team Lucca jersey and shorts ( mom said the kids were so excited to get them, they asked if they could please sleep in them the night before), whip down the last few yards to the finish line with such determination on her face, one can just imagine this little girls future in running.
Then, we watched her big brother, Isaiah lay it all down and come flying through the finish line to win the 10 year old plus division. Champions in the making, for sure.

The ever awesome Dale came in first amoung the T Lucca guys at 20:00:7, with Craig right behind at 20:48, then these three guys, right in a row at the finish - Cameron 22:18, Micah 22:28 and Juan 22:31.

Becky, who is our most consistent runner and works harder than anyone to improve both her time and running skills, came in first with the ladies at 24:49, Nicole soon after at 25:30, Phoebe, by far our most improved runner, 26:09 and Emily 26:34.

I so appreciate our team being out there showing support for the Alzheimer's Aid Group of Northern California. It meant the world to me.

http://alzheimersaidsocietync.org/

I remember the very last moment I spent with dad, several months before he had a stroke and passed away.
We stood outside the car. He kissed my cheek as a big tear ran down his. He told me he loved me very much. With tears in my eyes, I kissed his cheek and told him the same.

These are the moments.
Carve them on your heart.