The End from the Beginning

I've become convinced of something in the last few months. It's something that has changed my life and maybe even extended it for who knows how long.

About five years ago I was sitting in my office at work minding my own business when my heart began to race for no apparent reason. I was sitting in a chair, for Pete's sake. I wasn't exercising, I wasn't climbing stairs. I was just sitting there.

It raced for what seemed like 45 minutes, but I'm sure it was closer to 2 or 3, at a pace of about 150-170 beats per minute. It scared the living stuffing out of me.

When it was over I immediately called Kelly and told her about it. She suggested calling my doctor, which I did. He got me in there and listened and did an EKG. Everything seemed fine.

It wasn't.

I started getting these things called PVC's, which stands for Premature Ventricular Contractions. They're benign, but it feels like your heart misses a beat, then beats really hard to get all of that extra blood out into your veins. And that's exactly what it is. It’s very disconcerting.

After a bunch of tests and studies that lasted upwards of a year, my cardiologist told me he wanted me to go into the heart hospital to get some things looked at. There were some abnormalities in my latest stress test and he wanted to be sure they weren’t what he suspected. He said it was probably nothing, but he wanted me looked at anyway. Exploratory and routine, I think, are the terms he used.

Nothing routine about it, it turns out.

My RCA (Right Coronary Artery) was 95% blocked and getting worse. I could have died. In fact, the doctor who did the operation told Kelly that she's lucky she’s not a widow. Ok, I don’t know that he used those words, but basically that's what he said.

That day, back in 2009, they put a stent in me and sent me home. Good as new, right?

For a while, yes. I felt like a million bucks. I could run all day. I could exercise as much as I wanted. I felt like Superman. I was bulletproof!!

Flash forward to a year later, and I'm having other heart issues, this time called Atrial Fibrillation. Now, AF is NOT benign and anything but routine. It's actually what caused me to go to the cardiologist in the first place. Your heart races for no apparent reason and does so on its own timetable. I could be sleeping and my heart would start to race, waking me up at all hours.

Not a fun thing.

So, I went in for that, too, and got an ablation, which is basically a cauterizing of the veins coming from your lungs. This makes it so that electrical charge can't jump over and make your heart start beating like mad.

Since the ablation was done in January, I've only felt it a handful of times. I feel great and I'm exercising almost every day with no repercussions. I’m up to almost 3 miles a day on the treadmill and Jacob and I have run in three 5k races together, with more to come. So far so good.

The thing is, I don’t believe this whole thing started just by chance. I've become convinced that the Lord, with one of His many tender mercies, sent the original AF to me in my office that day because He knew my arteries were getting clogged. He knew that I would stay the course with my eating and exercise habits and would eventually have a massive MI and keel over in my soup.

Believe me, I don't want to die. I love my life. I mean I LOVE my life. I have the best wife and best kids any man could ever hope to have. I DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE.

I think know, that the Lord knew this. He gave me that initial heart problem so I would be prompted to go into the cardiologist so this whole mess would be found. I'm convinced of it, and I will never be able to think otherwise.

Just another example of how the Lord can see the end from the beginning.

I wish I could.

1st Annual Holiday Run for Smiles

Jacob is a runner. I've said it before...he's the runningest kid I've ever known. If we have to get somewhere, he'd rather run. If it's the end of baseball practice, he'll ask if he can run poles. I've never seen anything like it.

Lately we've been running in some 5k races to benefit this or that. This week we ran in the 1st annual Holiday Run for Smiles, which was held over in Vint Hill. It was to benefit some kids in third world countries who have no insurance to pay for dental work. As you can see from the pictures, it was a relatively chilly day, but we braved the wind and the weather to run anyway.

At the beginning of the races we run in, Jacob and I usually position ourselves toward the back of the pack since I'm not a fast runner and he likes to stay with me (I know, I don't understand it either). At the beginning of this race, I had to almost shove my way past a walker who would NOT get out of the way. You can see that in the picture on the right.

Finally on our way, we ran together for about a quarter mile. We decided that Jacob could actually win his age division, so he took off, leaving me far behind. After only about three minutes of running alone, I timed him and he was already a good 45 seconds in front of me. Go Jacob!

Since the course reversed itself at the mile and a half mark, I passed Jacob going the other way just after the mile marker. He was almost at two miles and bearing down quickly on the only other kid his age in front of him. But, as you can see, we crossed the finish line together. Just after passing the 2 1/2 mile mark, I saw him up in the distance. I figured he was coming back to tell me that he'd passed that kid and had won his age division.

But he wasn't.

He'd seen that the other kid had too much left in the tank to overtake him, looked back and saw me laboring and decided to throw the race and wait on his old man. What a kid, I tell you! What a kid!

I'm very proud of my son. I love him and cherish the time we have together. Unfortunately, he'll be 13 next month, just that much closer to leaving the nest. Believe me, I'm going to enjoy every single second of the next five years because after that my little buddy will be gone. Sniff.

Where did I put that box of Kleenex?

Tick Tock

Time.

Time out. Time flies. Time stands still.

Time to get up. Time to go to bed.

In the nick of time. Time heals all wounds.

Time after time. Time and again.

Time on your hands. Times they are a-changing.

We've all been given a certain allotment of this precious stuff. Some get more than others. No one knows how much time he's been given, whether it will be a lot or just a little.

Some use their time better than others. Some, like me, fritter away their time by sitting on the couch, making an irreparable indention with their butt, while vacantly absorbing inane drivel from the boob tube. Others, make the world a better place because of their wise use of time.

When the last grain of sand reaches the bottom of our personal hourglass, we'll be taken back to our God, who gave us life. It doesn't matter if you're famous, poor, handsome, or sad. Eventually, your time on this earth will end.

The life you build by your use of time, whether wise or otherwise, will be your yardstick in the life to come. What did you do with the gift God gave you?

I'm sure the officer who was killed yesterday at Virginia Tech thought he had a lot more time. Years, in fact. I mean, he was only 39. I'd wager that when he got up yesterday morning at his home in Christiansburg it never even entered his head that that very morning his hourglass would run dry.

You know what? It hardly ever does.

It comes like a thief in the night. You hardly ever suspect it.

This good and brave man left behind a wife and five children. Awful. Insidious. Horrible. Appalling. Shocking. Pick whatever adjective you like. I don't think you can overstate the tragedy of this situation.

I wonder if he left the house with a kiss for his wife and a heartfelt "I love you." I wonder if he squeezed each of his kids and let them feel how deeply in his heart they resided. I wonder today if they know how much daddy loved them.

It wouldn't surprise me if he did all of that and more.

But did you?

Time is running out.

I've Got Your Christmas Parade Right Here

Over the weekend we had our annual "Parade Day" in which Hannah dances in three (count 'em) parades in just two days. The first day's activities started with the 66th Annual Greater Manassas Christmas parade. She had to be there at 9:30am for the 10am start. I dropped her and Kelly off at the start of the parade and then drove to the end, parked, and waited. Kelly walked the entire length of the parade (about a mile or so), then we both waited for the star to come dancing down the street. We were able to leave at about 11:30. The picture at the right is from the end.

After a good workout on the treadmill, a nice cool shower and a quick bite to eat, we left for Fredricksburg, Charlie (our dog) in tow, for the Jaycees’ 2011 Fredericksburg Christmas Parade. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from that, but you can watch highlights here. I watched that video and did not see her company in it. She danced her way all along that parade route, too, which was probably about another mile.

Finally, the next day, we gathered all together (except the dog) and drove all the way to Baltimore for the 39th Mayor's Annual Christmas Parade. That route was about 2.5 miles and then it took us about another hour to get out of there because of all the traffic. The photo at the left is the group shot we took at the end. A full-sized Snickers bar goes to the one who can first correctly identify my little sweetie.

I sure am proud of her and her big brother. They both went through the whole two days with relatively little grouchiness. Jacob didn't have the distance to walk she did, but he was nevertheless a very good trooper when it came to supporting his sister. He stayed up late Friday night, so we let him sleep through the first one. But he was there for every other second, most of the time with a smile on, whether it was pasted there or not.

Needless to say, both of them slept well that night.