Posted Saturday, November 10, 2012
I (Charlie) will run a 5K race early tomorrow morning in memory of Dana Lee Petitt. Let me explain this from the beginning:
World Run Day (www.runday.com) is a virtual race event; this year there are nearly 2,500 participants all over the world. Each participant will run the course and distance of his or her own choice sometime tomorrow (November 11, 2012). A special quotation or dedication can be included with the run; you can also donate to a local charity, and this can be posted with the run. Bib numbers are downloaded from the website; T-shirts are mailed (I registered late, so my T-shirt will arrive after the event is over).
Back in 1986, Wendi was expecting her first child; the due date was November 11. As it turned out, the baby never developed inside the womb, and the result was a miscarriage on April 12. A friend told her that God loved this child so much that He picked it like a flower and took it home to be with Him.
Years later, when Wendi was still having trouble dealing with the loss, someone suggested that we name the baby and give it a birthday party. We didn't know whether it was a boy or girl (though we often thought this was the girl we never had), so we named the baby Dana Lee; both the first and middle name could go for either gender.
World Run Day falls on the Sunday closest to November 8 each year; this is my first year of running, and it falls neatly on November 11 which would have been Dana’s 26th birthday, so it makes a perfect dedication. We are donating to the Rock County Humane Society along with this run; we love our three cats and believe that Dana would have loved them too.