My cousin, Kelly James Heyer, was the cabin stweard of Delta/Comair flight 5191 that crashed this morning in Lexington, KY. So I got a slow and sad start to my day for running my LSD (long, slow distance). Starting at 10am instead of 8am meant that the weather was warmer by about 10-12*. My heart was also heavy, so it was a long run lost in my thoughts.
At one point, another song about a plane crash came on my mp3 player ("American Pie") and I was running negative splits while tears were running down my face. I always try to pretend I am the stoiac one, but I am not. It was a good thing I had that part of the trail to myself so I did not have to explain to others. . .
Then around mile 7, I came out of a cloud to realize that there were butterflies all over the place. At my Grandma's funeral a couple of years ago, the pastor talked about the butterflies as a sign of God's promise and love and told us to watch for butterflies. Today I saw the butterflies! We still have a lot of grieving to do. . . but I know that I will alos remember, with joy, how Kelly's smile was infectious. How he touched everyone around him. The way he attacked life with a laugh and a shrug. It was too short of a time, but the butterflies are a promise of a life to come and I know his love and light is not lost; just moved on. . .
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