As I mentioned a few days ago, it was hard for me to believe that it had been a year since I lasted posted here on Marshall’s blog. Then I started working on a presentation that Marshall will give in Florida this weekend and I realized *why* I hadn’t posted in so long. A lot has happened in the many months.
During the end of 2007 and into 2008, Marshall was very busy training for the run across America – an effort to run from San Francisco to New York in record time. This training took us to Arizona for the winter of 07/08. Being away from home was challenging enough (I’m more of a home body than I thought!), and Marshall’s training schedule was intense. But there was so much more.
In December of 2007, Marshall’s friend and mentor Ted Corbitt passed away. If you don’t know who Ted Coribitt is, take a few minutes and do some research; you won’t be disappointed.
My dad was also ill, having been diagnosed with kidney cancer in April of 2007. I took *many* trips to Minnesota (my parents’ home) to help with his care. And Marshall did more than his fair share. In fact, we were both at my parents for all of March and half of April 2008 when …
… we received a call from Marshall’s mother that his dad was in the ICU in Colorado. We immediate flew to his bedside. Marshall’s dad passed away a few days later.
After services for Marshall’s dad, we returned to MN for few days, got to AZ to pack up our things, returned to our home in CO when …
… my dad took a turn for the worse. I went home immediately, soon followed by Marshall. My dad passed away in May 2008.
Then, at the end of the month, we lost a dear young friend (he was only 28) to a tragic car accident, which took us to Maine (his family’s home) in June for his service.
Through it all, Marshall continued to train for transcontinental run. I finally “got with the program” in July 2008 and started to assist with planning, getting a crew organized, and coordinating with the film production crew (more on that later).
On September 13, 2008 Marshall started his transcontinental trek, taking his first steps off of the steps of City Hall in San Francisco, CA. That is a whole other story! But, for now, suffice to say that we were away from home for the run, returning home, recovering, enjoying some warm weather in AZ, celebrating the holidays, and doing some traveling for business and to visit friends until the end of January 2009.
So, now it’s February 2009, and we continue to stay busy! Lots of exciting things happening. More soon!
Hard year, I wish you a much better 2009. Would love to hear how Marshall is doing with the run.