I previously mentioned that a serious marathon runner offered to wear a Team Nico shirt during one of her races. One of these races was the Boston Marathon (I told you she was serious!). Obviously, real marathon runners do not race in Fruit of the Loom. So Adriana actually had her own Team Nico shirt designed on athletic wear at her own expense. This was a very meaningful gesture and extremely exciting for our family. Our son was to be championed in one of the biggest-deal (if not THE biggest-deal) marathons in the country. The day of the race, I turned on the television so that Nico could watch the love of his life, Dora the Explorer, just as the reports started coming in from Boston. I panicked. I was worried that Adriana was injured. I immediately checked Facebook to see if she had updated her status. These are the times when I love Facebook because moments earlier she had posted that she was unharmed. The panic subsided and was replaced with general sadness over what had happened. This marathon is something that people look forward to, and this year, our little boy’s struggle was being championed in it. We had stepped right up to claim our bragging rights – someone is running for Nico. There is not a lot that we have to look forward to in our immediate future, but this was a bright spot. Instead of the race, the day became about mutilation and senseless death, including the death of a child waiting for his dad to cross the finish line. When you lose all control in your life, like we have, you get superstitious (I know we are not alone in this based on conversations with other parents in similar spots). And I started to fearfully wonder aloud if this was a bad omen. Jeff assured me that the Team Nico shirts and terrorism were not linked (that was the gist anyway). Then the sadness was replaced with anger. Like everyone else, I was just angry that this had happened.
A few days later, Adriana wrote me. The whole experience was harrowing for her in a way that most of us cannot imagine. But she wanted me to know that she wore the shirt and finished the race. She told me that while she ran, even though her racing bib had her name on it, people on the sidelines yelled “Go Nico!” She said I would never believe how many people were cheering for our boy. She thanked me for letting her feel like part of the team and told me she would wear him again in other races. I admitted my neurotic worrying and hoped she would not associate the experience with the shirt (jinxed) and how she replied really moved me. Adriana said she did not feel she had really properly trained for the race this time and that she had done everything that you are not supposed to do before a big race. So she changed her own personal time goal, assuming that she was not in shape enough to finish as strong as she had in the past. But the morning of the race, as she started running, she felt so much energy. She thought there was no way she could sustain the momentum she felt. But somehow she did sustain it. She ended up finishing at 3:42, approximately 20 minutes ahead of her goal and approximately 20 minutes before the bombs went off at the finish line. She wrote: So if anything, I am pretty convinced the t-shirt gave me wings. LUCKY T-SHIRT!
Thank you, Adriana.
P.S. Adriana is not comfortable sharing her photos from the race in light of all that happened there. But she is allowing me to post them on warriornico.com (after this post). Terrorists at the marathon murdered innocent people, permanently injured many and made all of us feel less secure in our own country. But these murderers will not prevent Jeff or me from sharing these beautiful pictures of Adriana’s gift to us. Let these photos serve as a reminder that there are more good people than bad, more love than hate, and that Team Nico (with all your prayers and positive thoughts) is a very powerful force.
A few days later, Adriana wrote me. The whole experience was harrowing for her in a way that most of us cannot imagine. But she wanted me to know that she wore the shirt and finished the race. She told me that while she ran, even though her racing bib had her name on it, people on the sidelines yelled “Go Nico!” She said I would never believe how many people were cheering for our boy. She thanked me for letting her feel like part of the team and told me she would wear him again in other races. I admitted my neurotic worrying and hoped she would not associate the experience with the shirt (jinxed) and how she replied really moved me. Adriana said she did not feel she had really properly trained for the race this time and that she had done everything that you are not supposed to do before a big race. So she changed her own personal time goal, assuming that she was not in shape enough to finish as strong as she had in the past. But the morning of the race, as she started running, she felt so much energy. She thought there was no way she could sustain the momentum she felt. But somehow she did sustain it. She ended up finishing at 3:42, approximately 20 minutes ahead of her goal and approximately 20 minutes before the bombs went off at the finish line. She wrote: So if anything, I am pretty convinced the t-shirt gave me wings. LUCKY T-SHIRT!
Thank you, Adriana.
P.S. Adriana is not comfortable sharing her photos from the race in light of all that happened there. But she is allowing me to post them on warriornico.com (after this post). Terrorists at the marathon murdered innocent people, permanently injured many and made all of us feel less secure in our own country. But these murderers will not prevent Jeff or me from sharing these beautiful pictures of Adriana’s gift to us. Let these photos serve as a reminder that there are more good people than bad, more love than hate, and that Team Nico (with all your prayers and positive thoughts) is a very powerful force.
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