I survived The Tunnel-to-Towers 5k run

On Sunday Sept. 28 John and I participated in the Tunnel to Towers Race in New York City.

Actually, I don't hurt as badly as I thought I would. My time was 41:59. John's was 31:09, despite no warmup, and heavy traffic in the tunnel (the first 1.2 miles of the race was through the Brooklyn Battery tunnel.

There were 15000 runners. Big music and all. Michael Israel painted a painting live both before and after the race. I met up with the friend who talked me into this: Battalion Chief Mike Gala of Brooklyn. This is a picture of Mike & Anthony, John and me.

Coming out of the tunnel there were 686 FDNY members in full dress uniform - 343 each with a banner and photo of a member killed on the 11th, and 343 more holding American flags. Gospel choirs, HS bands and cheerleading teams lined the course. Many military groups ran in formation.

Some firemen did it in full turnout gear (the way Stephen Siller did it on the 11th). Proud to say I passed them. One man did it in a wheelchair (I passed him, too, until another fireman started pushing him).

I held on emotionally pretty well until after the race when the FDNY Emerald Society (bag)Pipe & Drum corps marched slowly past us, followed by all the members carrying the banners and flags. That's when I lost it. John did too, and a woman put her arm around him and said, "Oh, I'm sorry... who was he?" So many people there were running in honor of a particular fireman that she just assumed he was, too.

I'm very proud of John. He's clearly NOT a big city boy, but he put up with the traffic, the crowds, trying to find a parking spot, and everything. I wouldn't have done this without company, and I'm glad he made it possible for me to run.

Thy will be done

Every Sunday I've prayed this, but last night, in a dream, it became clear.

I'm not praying that God's will becomes reality. As if he needs my prayers to do what he wants. I'm praying that I have the good sense to accept God's will, and get over my own disappointment about it, and live out my life they way God intends.

I just found out a friend is dying of pancreatic cancer. He seems to be taking it better than I am.

Maybe that's because he's more comfortable with his life than I am with mine. Maybe he's got fewer regrets, fewer missed opportunities. Or maybe he's just got more faith, and has understood this prayer better than I have. Probably all of the above.

I'm regretting I didn't spend more time with him, smoke more cigars with him, listen more to his wisdom about life, his big visions for a freer society, his clear understanding of the Catholic faith. So now I need to do what I can so that I have fewer regrets, so that my family understands what I mean when I pray.

Political Absurdity

Today, Congress hauled the CEO's of some major mortgage companies to the Capitol to excoriate them on making huge salaries while their companies lost huge sums of revenue. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) asked how they had the nerve to take a big salary while their company was going down the tubes?

Excuse me, Henry... how's your organization doing? Last I heard it was in the hole about the size of the national debt! Wait... it IS the national debt! How can Congressmen seriously ask that question?