People are Nice in Illinois

Slept good my first night in the RV! Woke up at 5:30 (eeks!) but the good thing was Thom and I were out on the road running by 7:50AM. The first hour felt much cooler than days before, but the 2nd and 3rd stretch (we have broken down the 15.5 miles into 3 segments; each segment divided by a bathroom break, reapplying suntan lotion, getting fresh cold drinks, and dumping a bottle of cold water over my head) reminded me that we were not yet done with this crazy hot weather. The third stretch was the toughest and I realized I was going to need more water by mile 13, so Thom (who was waiting for me at the end of the route) had to drive back, pull over the RV, and walk me out some water. As he was doing this, a woman drove by and asked if we needed any help. We thanked her with a smile on our faces, saying, no, we were just hydrating and that we were running to NYC for Cystic Fibrosis. That got a big grin. Then, at mile 14.5, almost to the finish line for the day, ANOTHER car pulled over to the side of the road, and as I passed, the 2 sweet older women said, “Honey you’re not in trouble are you?” I once again smiled and reassured them that I was okay…..and that I was purposely running on the side of Rte 40 in the hottest weather of the year. People are good. I was definitely reminded of that today by such kindness and concern expressed to us by complete strangers.

Thom and I agreed that we are definitely getting started by 6:30 tomorrow morning, which means an 8:00 bedtime for me tonight!

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4 Responses to People are Nice in Illinois

  1. Rev. David Novak says:

    First of all my heart is dancing for joy, *&^)(*%#@#!#%%#* (simulated dance of joy!), since Colleen’s Humanitarian Adventure for CF & her Sister Katie is going so well.

    I agree that there are good people all over the world including Paris France which has an image problem in terms of friendliness and here in Skofja Loka Slovenia (eastern region of the former country of Yugoslavia) which is not to far from Medjagorie.

    In Paris I got lost and my portable GPS would not give my locations because I and the GPS were surrounded by tall buildings which blocked satellite signals needed for proper functioning. Almost everyone I asked made an attempt to speak English and tried to help me.

    When I got by rail to the train Station in Slovakia I was having trouble locating the Ursaline Sisters Retreat House. I approached a group of young students who turned out to be from Madrid Spain. I found a Ursaline House on the map but was not sure if it was the retreat house or simply one of the small convents. One of the young ladies told me to simply go to Google Maps (there was a McDonalds in the Station with free WiFi) and use the sattelite view to “look at it” and see if it was just a small convent or a very large building that would more likely be a retreat house!

    I have a little story that I would like to tell but the Sisters here seemed to just have turned out all the lights so I will end now & tell the story tomorrow.

    Best of luck to everyone. Anyone who reads this will be in my prayers tonight. (The time here is 7 hours ahead of Central Daylight Time!)

    Shalom (Peace),

    Fr. David

  2. Lakaii says:

    Are you sure the people in Illinois are nice? Or was it a solar reflection of your own kindness bouncing back at you? Some type of heat induced personality trait mirage of sorts.

    I kid. Sounds like you are moving right along, Awesome!

  3. Alicia Beebe says:

    Yay!!! I’m so glad that I can check up on you and your status. Best Wishes!

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