Her middle name is ACTUALLY Katherine [but I call her Gracie-Lu] and Gracie is my 2nd oldest niece. She turned 8 this September 24th, and on her birthday she asked her mom if we could run the St. Luke’s Women’s Fitness 5K together. What an amazing little girl!! To want to do a running event on her birthday speaks of her character. She is just fantastic… SO full of goodness. She radiates kindness and compassion, and she always has an entourage of neighborhood girls, younger and smaller than her following her around, basking in her attention and hanging on her every word. She wants so badly to do what is right. Here are some pictures from our early morning run:
About half way through the event, we came across a steep and VERY long hill. And I was so proud of Gracie; she ran the ENTIRE WAY up that hill. When we were nearing the finish line, I can only imagine how tired she must have been, taking two steps, for every ONE of mine. But when we were in sight of the finish line, she asked her mom if we might be able to walk the rest of the way. Kate was so sweet and great, and although being supportive of Gracie’s desire, she said: “If you can just hang on a little bit longer, it will all be over, and we can rest the rest of the day. We’ve got to push hard and finish strong, so that way we know that we did our VERY, very best.” I know I’m a sap… and I’ve always been. But that brought tears to my eyes as we sprinted across the finish line. Gracie did SO good, and we were so proud of her. The top picture is at the starting line… the bottom picture is right after the finish line. Gracie is a special girl, and I am SO grateful for her presence in my life. She also just got baptized a couple weeks ago, and it was truly a sacred experience. Here are some pictures of her that Nate took a couple weeks before her birthday:
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