Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Sport or Fitness (02/15/07)
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TITLE: Early Morning Walk | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jennifer Stahlmann
02/22/07 -
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On this particular morning, one idea wafted through her consciousness. Perhaps she would have been better to let it go, but she felt compelled to reach up and grab hold of it – to turn it around and examine it for a moment. It was ugly and painful to look at, and if she held it long enough, it threatened to shatter the peace of her day.
In a small, barely audible whisper the thought asked, “What happened to you?” It was like a prism with many sides, and as she turned it in her mind, images appeared on its surfaces. She could see herself in former places. The images flashed quickly, like short film clips, but in each one the girl turned and looked back out at her. They all had a hint of sadness and confusion; their expressions seemed to implore, “What happened to you?”
She had been a spry, agile young girl, full of energy and adventure. She liked to run and bike ride and swim for her own amusement. She was an accomplished gymnast, and had even won a Presidential Fitness award in grammar school - the only girl that year to receive such an honor. As a teenager, she bundled up all her flexible and energetic virtues and delivered them with power and excitement as a competitive cheerleader. Her squad had breezed through local competitions to become the state finalist. With her help, the team made it all the way to the eastern regional competition, aired on national television.
She watched a clip of herself from sophomore year of college, straining down an Olympic-size pool as she trained for a lifeguard certification Yet another clip showed her in her early 20s, barefooted in a dance studio, high above the hum of mid-town Manhattan traffic, keeping with the beat of the drummer in an African dance class.
It all happened so quickly during that early morning walk, perhaps no more than five minutes, but the thought packed a powerful punch that wiped away all other thoughts for a time, leaving her alone with the sound of her breath waxing and waning and the scuff of her worn out sneakers on the cold, wintry sidewalk.
At 32 she found her body in an unthinkable place. She never meant to arrive there – surely this wouldn’t be anyone’s goal. But that morning, she couldn’t help but marvel at the thought of it. How this could be the woman that the spry young girl had become? It was as though one day’s to-do list had slipped into the next without any deliberation, and almost suddenly, she caught a glimpse of herself. Looking back in the mirror of her mind was a woman just barely on the other side of youth, with early morning aches and pains. She had come to place where it was often a struggle to find a comfortable way to sit on the floor to play with her children and a far greater struggle to get up again.
As she turned the corner toward home, where the usual day awaited, the prism of memories beckoned her to look again, but she had breakfast to make and laundry to fold and beautiful children to nurture. Arriving at the porch steps the smell of morning coffee called her in to meet the warm smile of her husband. And so her day began.
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