"Tampa... here I come"

This is a pretty big weekend. I leave tonight for the Gasparilla 5k and Half Marathon in Tampa as well as the annual BBFC banquet in Orlando. This coming up week will be the 2 year anniversary of losing someone really special. Almost every day I relive getting the news that my cousin had committed suicide. I lived with her and her family during my junior and senior year of high school and I thought she was the exact person I wanted to be. They own Lake Lanier Islands, the Georgia Force football team, air planes, a helicopter and everything else money could buy. To a teenager I thought they had it all. She was also the person that taught me about God, showed me how to treat and love people. She opened the Boys and Girls club in their town. Took in 3 elderly families after the Katrina Hurricane. She was an amazing person with so much to give to this world. On February 13th (the day before Valentine's Day) she walked out side of their extravagant home and shot herself. My mom drove to Macon to come tell me in person and I still remember falling in the floor and crying the hardest I had ever cried. Within hours I was on my way to her house where I just sat in my room there and asked God why something like that could happen to someone like her. I believe that it's by her death is the reason why I chose to LIVE. Every single race I run, I run it for her. She was always so proud of everything I ever did. This race this weekend will be an emotional one. Not only is it my first half marathon but it's just a few days before the anniversary of losing her. The amazing thing was just a few months before her death she had paid me $1,000 to make a video to celebrate her and her husbands 20th anniversary. Because of it I ended up spending alot more time with her and it also gave us a video to watch of her life and the many accomplishments they had made. I wouldn't trade that time together for anything. I thank you for taking the time to read this blog and I hope in some way it causes you to tell someone you love them or maybe just appreciate what you have.