Hi folks, Great reading here today----as well as running and walking and hanging in there through training. I am one of those working today too, although I am about to close the office and go out for my run. I was in NC yesterday and actually landed a bit early (SSSHHHH....don't tell the airlines). I fly into the Hartford/Springfield airport (Bradley in Windsor Locks, CT). It's a 40 minute drive from my house and my route takes me past where my Super Granny lives. She is a night owl, so I stopped by on my way home and just in time to enjoy one of those moments of grace that appear in our lives without announcement. My blonde hair and light eyes come naturally from my Swiss-German mother and my bone structure and soul (in all senses of the word) come from my African-American father. My Super Granny is my father's mother and a direct descendent of the first freed slaves to settle in Springfield, MA. She was born in 1910 and will be 98 in November. Anyway....I stopped by Granny's to watch and listen as Barack Obama accepted the Democratic party nomination. Granny and I held hands and even though she is a stoic and practical New Englander, her face was wet. Make no mistake, she has plenty of complaints about both candidates, but this was a moment of grace and I am so deeply grateful I was sitting with her. My sleep deprivation disappeared, my puffy feet didn't hurt and I was worried not at all about my to-do list. This woman who has seen so much in her lifetime was witnessing something she thought completely impossible. My run this afternoon will be a test in tamping down the adrenaline. I had to get up at 4:30 AM this morning to drive to a client and I was fueled the whole way. I felt like Maraposai at the top of the mountain (or imagine she felt) or like Nonoruns as she looked at sunrise and thought of her father. Last night's experience with my grandmother reminded me that life is made up of all sorts of smaller moments---unspoken, fleeting, and powerful. Time to lace up my sneakers and fly Karin MTA: 9 miles at 7:58 pace at 5 PM---feeling good

That's as unusual as a Republican (me) in S. Florida. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother voting down here ...l

Is it to see the other dozen of them at your polling place? Oh rats -- there's my son crying over the monitor. Had more to say. Sorry!