Some Things Are Still The Same.

I could see the tears brimming in her eyes as she tried to stop her bottom lip from trembling. "But I can ..." Her teacher shushed her with an imperious wave of her hand - thus stopping any further words from finding an audience in the eager ears of the other children. The tension mounted and I wondered if the girl would cry or yell. My guess was the unshed tears would finally pour down her face.

I suddenly woke and realized I had been dreaming. But the dream had happened. It had happened to me at the age of thirteen. The teacher had seemed an unsympathetic insurmountable obstacle to my being able to run with the other girls. In the end, and I am smiling as I write this, I won over many obstacles that life and circumstance put in the way of my being able to run. Including those of that teacher. I wonder where she is now and I also wonder if she would gasp to realize that I am still running at the age of 51.

Sometimes the very thing that stops some people from even attempting to accomplish goals is the very thing that propels others to achieve the unlikely or the seemingly impossible. Such was the case with me -all those years ago. A few moments after the encounter with the teacher, I decided to run anyway, in the race. The course was around one city block . The other girls had started and were already way ahead of me when I leapt after them, suddenly energized by anger. I remember thinking, "how dare she tell me I can NOT run! I'll show her!" And show her I did. I ended up overtaking all the other girls, much to the dismay of the girl who thought she would win. I ran all out, holding nothing back, not caring what the consequences would be. Nothing mattered but running.

After I crossed the finish line - which as it happened was only a thin white chalk line on the back asphalt - I knew I was in big trouble. That is, it seemed so to me at the time as a girl of thirteen. As the other girls finished, some were brave enough to give me a pat on the back, while the others just watched wondering what the teacher would do. I

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