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4/2/04 |
A couple of months ago, Turena Johnson Lane made the drive over from Statesboro to speak to the Millen Milers. I had never met Turena, but I had read several articles about Turena and her quest to make the 2004 Olympic Team in the women's marathon. I've heard a number of world class runners speak, but I don't recall hearing a more motivating speech. I'm not much for listening to people (runners) give out numbers. Well last week I ran 85 miles, yadda-yadda-yadda. (Remember Seinfeld???) As a former basketball coach....we used to call it X's and O's. After all, I'm not going to go out and run 100 miles next week, but I am going to run! Turena didn't give us her work-out schedule, she gave us something much better, she gave us her reason for running. She talked about how much she enjoys running. She gave each of us a little card with two words.....I CAN! She reminded us how important those two words are. When she hears how difficult any task is, she repeats, I CAN! While we ate, Turena asked us to keep our forks. As we held our forks, she told a story about a family friend named Millie. Millie was making plans for her funeral. She, like many people, wanted to take care of as many arrangements as possible before her death. She picked out her favorite song, her favorite dress, some of her favorite flowers, but then she told a friend that she wanted to be buried with a fork. Naturally the friend was a bit curious about this unusual request. Why a fork? Millie replied, "When I was a little girl and we finished our meal, mom always reminded us to keep our fork. We all knew what that meant, dessert was coming. In other words, we had already eaten a great meal, but the best was yet to come." That's how Millie approached the end of her life here on earth, "The best is yet to come." Debbie Gleason and a group from the Statesboro Pacers had a send off dinner for Turena on Tuesday. One of the comments that Debbie made was that Turena is doing something that all of us admire.......not trying to make the Olympic Team.....but following her dream. After the cheers and good luck wishes had died down, Turena thanked the group for their support. As Turena sat in the middle of that group, thanking her friends for the gift and for being there on this special night, I could see several ladies around me getting a little misty eyed. (By the way, if anybody says anything about me, I did get some pepper in my eyes from my Mexican dinner.) As I sat there watching, I thought to myself, boy, what a great night!I have no idea if Turena will make the Olympic Team tomorrow morning, but I can tell you that a lot of people in Southeast Georgia will have their fingers crossed for over 2 1/2 hours Saturday morning. But whether Turena makes the team or not, I hope she hangs on to a fork from St. Louis .......because........I can guarantee one thing........for Turena Johnson Lane.....The Best is Yet to Come!!! See Ya, Ray |