On Monday I got to hang out with friends and chill out. Above: Nelson fixes breakfast for Camelia and me.
Leelannee (left) also ran the Crosswinds 5K -- and she beat me. Two years ago, I beat her (according to the statistics; I didn't know her then, but she's become a great friend). Phil, my former neighbor, is in the middle. And on the right is my buddy Nelson.
D&D is the nickname my youngest brother used for the folks in a recent e-mail. Delores met and married my dad not too long after my mom died of cancer, about four years ago and the same time I started running. Running helped me cope with the stress of those days and Delores has helped Dad cope as well. They came out to NY (from Iowa) for Sam's wedding, and this was the second time I saw Delores. They spent a couple days before the wedding with Sam, who had never met Delores. Here they are enjoying Nelson's patio in Canandaigua (NY), which he built primarily for me so I could study outside in the fresh air instead of being cooped in my room all day. I helped build the "fence," which used to be a pallet from a factory. The design and most of the work, however, was Nelson's. 
My dad's wife, Delores, has always wanted to see Niagara Falls. Her three-block trek through Labor Day crowds, maneuvering through a very long wait, and then negotiating the wet ramp onto the Maid of the Mist with her walker was a feat equal, if not greater, than my 5K on Saturday. This is a photo of the American Falls (do you see the double rainbow in the photo below? click on the photo to enlarge if you can't see it here)
To calm my pre-wedding nerves and as a benefit to Sands Cancer Center in Canandaigua, New York, I ran a 5K with about 354 other participants, coming in 258th. An asthma attack prevented the finish I had hoped for, but I came close -- 31:38. I had hoped for a 30 minute finish, but this 10:11 mile pace was okay (Photos by Nelson Bowen). Above: the line up. Below: that's me near the finish line.
At the rear left is Steve Bragg, my virtual running partner. He ran a 27:12 5K, a 8:46 mile pace, according to the statistics at http://www.crosswindsonline.org/. We share our individual running goals via e-mail and cheer each other on when we reach them. He's been working 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. all summer, so I am pretty amazed at his ability to finish so well. The couple in front is my dad and his wife Delores. That, too, is pretty amazing to me. Until I started running four years ago, I never did anything very athletic. Now I'm 50 and Dad will be 80 in November, and he saw me finish a race for the very first time. Oh! I almost forgot Bart...that little Terrier-Pom mix is quite a runner himself. Though he didn't run this particular race with me, he used to run with me about once a week when I lived in Canandaigua. Those little legs hustle!
I love my girls...AM on the left and Sam in the middle. They value relationships, servanthood and a strong commitment to their Designer AND they treat their momma like a queen (photos by Nelson Bowen).
That would be my new son, Chad, on the left with his bride. Anna Maria is next to her sister and served as assistant to the bride. Magdalena (in rust) and Eliza Grace (in blue) were flower girls. They each arranged the flowers in their baskets. (For more photos see Steven's blog -- a professional photographer, he has some very unique and interesting views on his blog at http://homepage.mac.com/steverinojohnson/iblog). 
I took these photos so you could see the detail in the dresses...the flower girls, assistant's and bride's dress were all from the same basic pattern.
