So, another Jewish tradition is to do something, to take on a Mitzvah (commandment) or to pledge something in their name. This is known as an "allyah for the person's Nashama" a raising up of their soul.
And so last week, in honor of a woman who I meet over cough drops in an anthropology course when I was 17, I pirated the Colfax 10 mile run. I signed up and donated in her honor to a charity and picked up my packet. But late in the night when I should have been resting for the early morning run, I realized that running with over 10,000 strangers was no way to remember her. I needed to do something to make her laugh, which she did often and freely.
So, with my T-shirt and bib I ran the miles at home, after a leisurely cup of coffee. No fighting traffic and searching for parking...no long lines at the port-a-potties...no stampede of well trained feet pushing to get in front. Just me and the sky and the wind and the mountains and my memories of a life well lived.
I miss you Gina, and I pledge to light a candle for you each year. But more importantly I pledge to remember our private jokes and to continue to laugh at rich-people-dressing-badly as we always did. Oh, and the rich-people-designing-badly. And the graphic designers who love to use light green on menus to be read in dim restaurants. And all the other ways we found humor in the confusion of life.
I honor you with my laughter and my tears and a private run each year. My your name be a blessing. Amen.
