I’ve been watching the tracker for months, waiting for a lightning flash to grace our locality. I willed with all my might for that smiling, mesmerizing face in a red super hero mask, revealed to me only in a little box made of pixels on our computer screen, I willed with all my might for it to appear as a real live Super Hero. To make me believe just a little bit more. Tonight it happened. We first heard of Jamie Mc Donald, real life super hero, from a fellow crazy runner named Gord, who happens to have run approximately 60 running races a year for the last couple of years. More than one race every week. Gord has a knack for finding quirky stories about runners and shares them on facebook. Antonio said to me one day, “Hey, you won’t believe this crazy English guy running across Canada.” I was in disbelief when I first heard about Jamie. It can’t be true. It’s the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border, and it’s the middle of winter. What kind of nut case attempts such a crazy feat? I grew up in Saskatchewan. Some days it was difficult walking from the house to the car, never mind across the entire province. And into another one. Another one with mountains. Big, Rocky Mountains! But I hoped, and willed him success. I needed to see this Flash in action with my own eyes. He was raising money for Children’s Hospitals. More than half of my 5 kids have benefitted greatly from specialized Children’s Hospitals as babies, both in BC and abroad. I could support this cause. I needed to see him to really believe; needed to see him paying it forward in the flesh , and then watch the ripple effects that he would have. The sky was dark, crisp, clear in the outskirts of the Lower Mainland, as we neared Abbotsford. We’d been driving for an hour, in search of the real live Jamie, represented by the bouncing pixels that were just not quite real. The sky was enormous and those far away stars, especially Orion’s belt, had a message for me. Seems like every February I get greeted by Orion’s belt with a great big bang. BANG. You are teeny, tiny. The complications of your life are insignificant. Find a greater meaning, they say. Make a difference. Enjoy life. Pay it forward, they say. A stop sign, and a right turn on to Number 3 road in Abbotsford, and BAM. I saw Caesar first. The adrenalin rush began to surge. Antonio pulled over, I jumped out of the passenger side on this dark lonely road, which had suddenly magically been illuminated with the presence of a real life brilliant star. I threw my arms to the stars in the sky and yelled with all my might “JAMIE MC DONALD!” He had abandoned Caesar and backtracked the 5 meters to where we had pulled over, and honored me, the complete stranger, to a real life, not in pixels, Jamie McDonald hug. The pixels came to life in my arms. A hug from Jamie Mc Donald. What a complete rush! We weren’t sure what Jamie might want or need so we had picked him up a hot drink, but he said he didn’t need it. “I’m behind schedule. I’m supposed to be at a hockey game, I have to go. I have to get there. I think it’s 10 more kilometers to the hotel in Abbotsford, and from there I’m getting a ride to the hockey game.” Antonio started to peel off a layer of clothes and grab his head lamp and reflective vest. Jamie looked worried and said “I’m running pretty fast, I’m in a hurry.” You could see he was hoping this new tag along wasn’t going to be a burden. Antonio reassured him he was ready, “Let’s go, let’s get you to a hockey game!” Antonio took control of Caesar’s massive bulk, and off they went. I watched them disappear into the darkness of the South Parallel Road. I turned the car around and went to search for the hotel, so I could come back and give the runners the heads up of how to find it once they arrived to Abbotsford. I found the hotel Jamie mentioned, went in to ask if it was the only Ramada in Abbotsford. The young guy at the counter said yes. The only one. Then I asked, “Okay, are you expecting Jamie McDonald here?” His eyes lit up and he said, “Oh yes, we are waiting for him to arrive! He should be here within the hour!” He was clearly smitten with this idea of the impending arrival of Jamie, and he said, “It isn’t every day you get to actually meet a hero!” I turned around and saw two men coming down the staircase, and I recognized Jamie’s dad! I couldn’t believe it! I think I stared at him speechless for a moment and then I said, “Are you Jamie McDonald’s father?” And I promptly got and gave a big hug to him! And to Jamie’s friend who was also there. Wow. When I first saw Jamie post about his dad and friend arriving on the 30th I had considered going to the airport, but wasn’t really sure which flight they’d be on. And here I was, 24 hours after their arrival, greeting them at a hotel in Abbotsford. I could have been home watching the other 24 hours with Jack Bauer, but tonight getting away from Netflix had a huge payload! Jamie’s super powers leave the fictitious Jack Bauer in the dust. I invited Jamie’s dad and Rich to come with me by car to backtrack and find Jamie and Antonio and see how they were doing. I honked the horn like a madman as soon as we found the blinking lights and reflectors on the side of the road, and surprised them with my two hitchhikers! Told them it was an easy (easy for us to say at least) 3 kms to the hotel. They were clipping along at a decent pace, so we turned back to the hotel so they would be ready to head to the hockey game the minute Jamie arrived. Jamie arrived with his video camera in hand, gleefully capturing the moment where he could say into the camera, “ TWO MORE MARATHONS TO GO!” Antonio gave Jamie five $20 bills for his fundraising efforts, one bill in the name of each of our 5 children. But there is no price for tonight’s experience or the work that Jamie is doing. It is priceless.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 08:56:43 +0000
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