As proud as he’d be of my accomplishments, this is likely the type of reaction my ranting and raving about running would incur.

My workout on Tuesday was like turning a corner for me on this journey to fitness. I almost feel…reborn. Born into a runner. Today I ran for 20 consecutive minutes. Sure, I only covered about a mile and half, but I’ve NEVER run for that long before in my entire life! And maybe it wasn’t easy, but it was possible, and I knew it. For once, I knew that I could do it.

Oh no! I’m turning into one of those obnoxious people who talks about how much they like exercise! I’ve always hated those liars, but…. it turns out they’re not lying. If you find the right sport or activity for you, it can actually be fun. And I do look forward to branching out into other things like more lifting, cycling and dance, but for now I’m content to just lace up my shoes and run.

And this is where things all come back to Joey. All of you who knew him will remember how single-minded he was. When he was excited about a new interest, it was all he could talk about or think about – whether it was building freak bikes, learning a new instrument, or just discovering an interesting part of history (like the Mayan civilization). It’s one of our common traits. We tend to get a little obsessive with things, and we’ve always been like that. It must be genetic because I’m raising at least one little boy who does the same thing. Like most little boys, Joe went through a dinosaur phase, and he learned absolutely everything he could get his hands on. He talked about dinosaurs non-stop, and it used to drive me insane. But then I got older and bored him to tears with “fascinating” math and physics observations.

In college this trait made life a bit difficult for me as I had trouble concentrating on several subjects at once, but in life, I am so thankful for my passion. For me it’s kind of like squeezing the juice out of life – one lemon at a time. Maybe next year I’ll be raving about zumba, or cycling, or lifting, or maybe I’ll be prepping to run a 10k or half marathon. But you can bet that whatever it is, I’ll be passionate about it because that’s what it means to live every day to the fullest. And I’ll never betray who I am.