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"Mom, slow down!"

As Patti’s healing continues, it is sometimes not so easy to continue to find blessings in it. She is frustrated by her limp. A limp which slows her down and has people frequently asking her if she is okay. Yet, it is in her limp, that my blessing comes.

I tend to walk fast everywhere I go. Growing up, I often had the shortest legs in my group of friends. I learned how to take two strides in the time it took them to take one. At school, I speed walk through the halls to get to where I am going. I leave school right at 3:30 and usually go right home. I frequently stop to experience what is around me, but rarely slow down. I enjoy having my children along with me when doing things. In the past they have asked me to slow down. I had a tendency to get where we were going quickly and wait for them there. My feet just felt the need to move. And then Patti got hit by a car. The blessing of life and the ability to walk continue to be easy to identify. In the month since she has been hit, she has had many doctor’s appointments. With each one, I get out of the car and start for the door thinking she is right beside me, only to hear, “Mom, slow down. I can’t walk as fast as you.” I slow down and we walk in together.

The other night we went for a walk. Going for a walk usually means some sort of exercise to me. Thus, it is necessary to get my heartrate up. I stepped out of the house with her thinking we were heading on a short walk. Almost two miles later, we were back home. It took us an hour to walk the walk. Throughout the walk, I was reminded to slow down.
I have been thinking a lot about what it means to slow down lately. As with anything else, some days it is easier than others. Today, I found myself turning around on my way home in order to slow down and check out some botanical gardens I have been driving by for the past four months. I was expecting a ten minute walk around some gardens. Instead what I got was a beautiful hike and some time for me. 1.8 miles later I finished the Waterfall Trail only to discover there is another trail. (I believe that is the one where the flowers are.) I know I will be back next week to slow down and do some hiking.

      

   



 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 



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