Mother’s Day

On Mother’s Day I received a gift that I could never physically open in a box or an envelope. I started that morning like I always do – hitting the button on the Keurig and finding my Airpods. I selected a motivational piece from my Aura app and sunk into myself hoping that the Universe will keep me on a good path and point me in the right direction. Shortly after I finish my second coffee in my Schitt’s Creek mug I slapped on my gym clothes and headed to the gym.

The beginning of class is always the same. Hugs and laughs with my team and the underlying dread of what was ahead of us for the next 75 minutes. It is always sheer hell, but we love it and after 6 years keep coming back for more. That morning though I was feeling particularly strong despite my knee wanting to bust out of the skin and run for the hills. After the warm up of 8,456 Military style jumping jacks we were all moving about and grabbing our weights we would need for the WOD. My trainer approached me and whispered to me “I want to acknowledge on this Mother’s Day how special you are. God chose you to deal with the most difficult of challenges with your son. I salute what you do and who you are.” He then gave me a hug with a tear in his eye. Ok so… if you know Satan (as I have secretly nicknamed him), there is rarely emotion. He is a true class act but the biggest badass of a human I have ever met.

As we moved through the morning, I felt myself getting stronger and standing taller. The weights Satan prescribed for me were much heavier than usual, but they seemed to glide through the air. Nothing bothered me. Ok, maybe the step ups but that is nothing new. Again, the knee was packing up and heading for the coast. The strength I felt was so visible. My mind immediately went to Jake and Julia. They are my “Why”. Satan was right. God did choose me to be their mom and gave me strength to meander the brush of Jake’s Autism. Climbs, descents, grappling over walls, and diving into muddy water were daily events on this course. I realized that life’s obstacles are just like those I train for.

The reason why I train so hard is to stay alive on the Spartan courses. There is a saying that the more you train, the less you bleed in battle. While I have not run any races since my last Beast in December 2019 (thanks to this pandemic), I find myself on a course at home every damn day. My training helps to keep my mind and body strong so that I don’t DNF (Do Not Finish). Do I want to train every night and weekends? Sometimes the answer is no because I hurt. The knee slaps me around and we still can’t figure out why my heart is cranky. Yet I keep going. I keep going because my kids need to see that you just do not give up when things get hard or when you are dealt a bad hand of cards.

There are things happening right now in my son’s world that need my daily attention. He seems to be in some type of internal struggle that requires strength. He has it – I just have to figure out a way to remind him of where it is and how to use it. He is even getting into walking more and more so that the three miles he checks in with each day helps him sleep better so that he can handle whatever is thrown his way. I can’t imagine not being strong on our course. As it is I have days where I just want to get in my Jeep and drive until I end up in Anywherebuthere, USA. Day after day though I administer four strong, cleansing breaths and I am back at it looking to load my first born onto my back and continue the climb.

Mother’s Day will always be a chance to remember how lucky I am to have received two miracles. Thanks to Satan it will now be a way to remind myself that without strength I could never have continued to put one foot in front of the other or hurl very heavy objects towards the sky each day.