oh, nashville. how i love you.

it was a special weekend. what can i say really...it was good. all of it. maybe not for those of you that actually ran 13.1 miles. but in general it was incredible. this weekend was special to me for so many reasons. but one thing that was big for me is that this weekend marked the last cancer "thing" in my life. hopefully forever. we celebrated the victory that was won over cancer. we celebrated by coming together. friends and new friends. we ran or should i say some people ran. others supported. we ate. we laughed. we talked. we got tattoos (only two of you). but most importantly we came together as a team and celebrated the freedom that is found in christ. in running. and in life without cancer.

some of us started the weekend off with dinner together. 

 the morning of the race. real early. i was still sleeping. sorry about that.

yup that's right. they are running and actually smiling.

thank you to the supporters and to the photographers who helped document the day. you were essential. every team libby runner had someone on the sidelines cheering them on to keep going. it was an awesome sight.

she does not even know that she is on a team. but she is. team libby for life. i am her momma and she is my baby. my sweet baby who helped me through cancer in a way i will never be able to articulate to her and i hate that. but i will try. oh, i will try so hard. how she taught me an entirely new kind of strength. that changed me forever. thank you ava for being on my team and not even realizing or really having a choice of whether you want to be on this team. but you are. you will never know the depths to which i love you and cherish you. but i will try every day to make sure you never doubt it. i am glad to have you on my team.

these two girls are best friends and brand new mommas too and they ran this half marathon. like it was nothing. i was so impressed. when we saw each other at the expo (where you register and get your number and stuff) we were chatting and i asked them why they were running...and kayla said...well there is this girl...and we never knew what to do. or how we could help. so when we heard about team libby we decided this was something we could do and they did it. thank you girls.

oh, sweet ang. you made this thing happen. i often said to you over the past months...people do not do this. i promise this is not normal to do what you are doing. not only running and training. but raising money. designing t-shirts. mailing them to people. organizing runners. planning an after race luncheon. and all kept telling me was...this is what friends do. and she was not alone. so many of you helped make this entire thing happen. so thank you thank you thank you. we have good good good friends. i honestly had no idea how great our friends are until cancer happened. crazy that it took cancer for me to even realize it. but so thankful it did. everything about this weekend kept me in awe. i only hope to care for people half as well as our friends (and strangers too) have cared for us in the past several months.

the raleigh girls as i now like to call you. its only the beginning. thanks for running. blogging. driving. get tats. and sharing your hearts with me this weekend. it was such a gift. 

after the race we headed to jason and emily's for a little lunch. thanks for hosting. it was great to relax and get a chance to talk to some of the runners i had never met. so thankful we had this time together.

 

(not all the runners but most of you)

thank you thank you thank you. and i would write thank you a few more times but that seems silly. but thank you to those of you that trained. ran through injury. drove from ohio. west virginia. pennsylvania. kentucky. north carolina. tennessee and virginia. sorry if i missed a state. thanks for driving. flying. getting hotels. traveling with little babies. caring enough to run for someone you had never met. for your gifts. by they way chip in girls you beat your goal. by $32. thank you for running because you love my family. or you love jesus. or both. or maybe you just like to run. i felt more loved this weekend than i know how to express. it was so humbling. i know you did not do it for me and i know its not about me. i promise. but seeing those team libby shirts worn all over the place on saturday was something i will never forget. i have often said that we have seen community like no other since i have been sick and this half marathon was the culmination of it all. i was so honored to able to thank you all in person at lunch. although i hid behind my sunglasses and cried. i still can not tell our story without crying. sometimes because i get sad. but mostly because i can not share it without talking about jesus and how he carried us through cancer. and how He used you. this race. to give me a glimpse of how He uses things that are hard and sometimes uncomfortable to bring joy. not all the time. but sometimes. and i saw that this weekend. through you. those of you that are dear friends and new friends who came together for many different reasons. but ultimately because we care about jesus and our little family. so thank you. from the depths. thank you.

you all deserve to be thanked by name.

the runners: 
angie
katie  
becca 

nathan 

tyler

daniel 

cassandra

anna

julia 

hannah

laney

jaclyn

becca 

kayla 

stephanie 

andrew

mallory 

emily 

sarah

people who trained, but were unable to race due to physical problems:

kyle

randi 
jamie

carli

eric

people who trained, but i did not see at the race:

samantha 

morgan 

heather and her roommate
jamie

people who bought t-shirts and ran in honor of team libby:

jenna

stephanie

kristy

(if i missed anyone please email me and i will add your name right away)

thank you sweet sweet jen for documenting the day and helping make this whole thing happen. (thank you anne and cory for pictures too).

see they are friends. playing nicely. but then...

ava hits silas. 

why does she do that?

we want them to marry each other but its not looking good. only time will tell.

this whole thing came together while i was still sick. we of course hoped and prayed that our story would end: cancer free. it did. in turn it made this run even more of a celebration. many of the runners said they ran and trained because i could not and if i could handle cancer they could handle running 13.1 miles. i get emotional thinking about that. i might run in nashville next year. because if you can handle cancer...you can handle 13.1...right?

cancer free. yes i am. cancer free.

more to come this week on the whole nashville weekend...