Remember when I posted on a regular basis?

I do.

I actually have about 5 posts that are drafted out or outlined or half written or are in my head and I want to write them down, but I haven't made the time.  Summers are so busy!!  And I don't really know why I feel like this takes precedent over the marathon post, but it does.

I love the random situations I am privy to.

I have two really unrelated/really awesome mini stories to share.  I hope you won't think I'm weird.

#1
The day before the race, I was pretty busy at work.  Every other Friday is what we call a 'double ship day', which for you non-tourist job people means that there are not one, but TWO cruise ships in which means that my little town of 275,000 pretty much triples in size.  Its a busy day for me, but I try to make it as enjoyable as possible.  Before one of my tours I chatted it up with a gentleman who had a Team in Training hat on. (Side note, I am TOTALLY going to join TNT.  They are awesome)  He told me he was running the half and I told him I was running the full and that it was my first and that I wanted to crawl in a hole in die I was so nervous.  After the tour we got to talking and he told me that he ran his first marathon just 6 months after his first round of chemotherapy.  I told him that was amazing and asked him what type of cancer he had. 'Large B-cell Lymphoma'.  I started crying immediately.  I apologized and explained that my mom had been diagnosed in October with the same type of Lymphoma and that she had just finished a round of chemo AND radiation.  He teared up and we exchanged some conversation about it.  At the end, we took a picture and he told me he would look for me at the finish line.

#2
Yesterday, I got off a tour and was helping my passengers off the trolley. (P.S. if you didn't already know, I drive a trolley and it is AWESOME) I started to chat a bit with the people at the front of the line waiting to get ON, and as a man came off, he approached the man in the front of the line, shook his hand and announced which branch of the military he served in during Vietnam.  The man at the front of the line returned the exchange with his regiment number and type.  They shook hands and each said to the other, 'Welcome home brother.'


Now.  Neither of these two experiences have anything to do with the other, except for the fact that the both touched me deeply.  One because I knew that it was one of those moments when I could see God's hand in a chance meeting.  The other because here were two perfect strangers who were both 'anxiously engaged in a good cause' and it made me proud to be an American.

I may say that I hate my job, and sometimes I do, but I am so glad that I get to interact with so many different people.  I am not a fan of saying the same thing 585 times a summer.

But as you can see, Captain Cook is showing off his better side for you today.