Time to Move On

Day #1 (Tuesday)

I'm so excited!! Jo and I are now on our way to the Boston Marathon.

"Hey Jo, how you feeling?" I ask.

"Not so well, though I had a good breakfast! Waffles and fruit!" she replies enthusiastically.

"Well , I had some bread and butter with cold milk." I reply.

"Honestly Cathy, I don't know where our bucket list will lead." she says while shaking her head.

"What do you mean?" I question. I can't quite understand where she's going with this. See, that's the thing about Jo, she can't always be the easiest person to read.

"Well, you've seen how sometimes when people do this, it could go one of many ways. You could get seriously hurt, or find the love of your life,"she answers.

My heart stops. Memories flash in my mind. Pictures of a guy with me. Laughter and smiles. Then...CRASH! All gone.

"Oh, Cathy I'm sorry I brought that up. Jax was a great boyfriend. He was sweet and caring. I'm probably making this worse. I'm... going to stop talking." Jo softly speaks.

Jaxson Gross, my 2 year long boyfriend. He died in a motorcycle accident. We met in Sophomore year and instantly I had a crush on him. We hung out for a while before he asked me out. We went to Junior prom together, spend long nights and bright days together. It was like my life was completed. Until that fateful night. He was driving home after meeting me at the beach and got hit from behind when he came to a sudden stop. I cried for days. I longed for a warmth to fill me, for me to get over it, but I never could. To this day I still think about him. Sometimes, I hear his voice, motivating me and helping me push forward. Not only did we complete each other, but we were also meant to be. We were there for each through thick and thin.  He was my forever. But my heart isn't ready to replace him. When I returned to reality, the rest of the ride was quiet. Jo turned on the radio and we listened to some music. The host was talking about the Boston Marathon and how it's been going on for awhile now.

We reach there in about 6 hours. The race is being set up and is going to start in 15 minutes. Jo and I stretch and warm up by doing small laps in the grass. The racers start to line up and so do we. "On your mark...3....2....1," CRACK! The shot goes off. Jo and I start off pretty well actually. We space our breathing and conserve our energy. As of now we are in 20th/21st place. As we both reach the halfway mark, we starting to lose our energy. I start getting voices in my head. Cathy, c'mon! Push through, you've got this! I know you can do this! It was Jax. So, I slow down and collect all that I've got in me. I run like I've never done before. Imagine, having to race a T.Rex, that's how fast it felt like I was running. "I'm doing this for you, Jax." I mutter underneath my breath. I notice Jo isn't doing so well. She's turning red, breathing faster, and looks like she's about to collapse. I get to her side and link arms with her. I start picking up speed so she can come along. She starts matching my speed and I let go. We smile and keep running. I can almost feel the end coming. It's so close. Right there. And suddenly a brush of air whirls past me and I fall onto the grass beneath me. Jo lays beside me and we take deep breaths. I've never been so grateful for the air I breathe until today.

Jo and I walk back with medals around our necks. I placed 15th and Jo placed 16th. I can now say #1 is accomplished.

"Hey Cathy, I'm gonna talk to some board members over there so I'll catch up with you later." Jo says.

"Sure, I'll just put these bags in the car." I offer

"Ok, I'll text you." she says

I don't want to attract any attention. As a child I've never been good a making friends. I'm pretty quiet in class, and I don't usually hang around at parties or anything. I kept my head down, but I guess I trip and drop the bags and flop on the grass.