Every Snowflake has a Story

Did you make your weekly plan? (see plan the work, work the plan). I decided to try a little running today to see how my hip was coming along. It has been 5-days since I've ran for over a mile. I did 4.3 on a treadmill during lunch and then after work I spent about 30-minutes lifting.

I made sure that I did some stretching (for a change) and that I started my run fairly slowly. I don't have a big race for quite a while. There's no reason to rush things. I'll swim again tomorrow. Then I'll run a little harder and a little farther Wednesday.

Yesterday, I compared women to snowflakes, with no two being alike. Have you ever looked closely at an individual flake. They are so intricate, so complex, and so beautiful. I think you could take a drawer full of cookie cutters, and press out about 90% of the male population. We (not me) are a pretty simple lot. But, women, that's another story.

There is a story behind each snowflake. Sometimes, it's a story of challenges. Just take last weekend's dates. Friday had a 20-year old daughter with Cistic Fibrosis. She was okay with that, though, like the had accepted the fate, the reality that her daughter would probably die in the next 10-years. Friday had become a Respitory therapist that works with children.

Saturday had a 17-year old daughter with Downs Syndrome. She's in high school now, but, Saturday home-schooled her for many years. Women can be so strong, probably out of necessity. It reminds me of my 88-year old mother who raised 8 kids while running a business, and, taking care my ailing father toward the end of his life. She also raised my 9-year old (he'll be 10 on 3/1) nephew from the time he was 5. Yes, women can be tough, as well as beautiful.

The great majority of women I've met on the internet have been married before (some still are). Sometimes their stories aren't the happiest. Take the Widow Mary, for instance, she had a baby with her new husband at the age of 40. Then, one day he becomes ill and dies. That had to be tough. Still is. She is just now starting to breakout into the dating world again. She onced thanked me for helping me breakout of her shell. Yeah, break out so she could see the other guy. "Hey, glad I could help" (that's sarcasm). I'm still crazy about her.

Friday was divorced. She was so happy when they were together and was still madly in love with him. I didn't get the whole story, but, I get the impression he left her for another woman. What else could it have been. That happened to another woman I went out with about 6-weeks ago. Her husband left her for her best friend. She even told of how her best friend spent the first few days with her (before she found out it was her) and would hold her through the night while she wept, uncontrollably. Even going through that, she confided that she was still hoping for a reconciliation. Now, that is sad.