Weddingbee Blog

M does little things that shows me that he loves me - buying my flowers just because, holding me until I fall asleep if I had a rough day, always giving me a bite of his dinner, switching plates if I don’t like my food, letting me watch my TV shows, vacuuming because he knows how much I hate it, etc. However, my story isn’t necessarily a romantic story -it’s when I realized that M was a keeper.

One of my “things to do before I die” tasks is to complete a marathon. Being a decent runner, it’s something I wanted to accomplish, just to say I did it. I asked M to run the marathon with me, and he agreed. So for months we trained, running 3 times a week for long distances. I run slower than M, and every time we did trial runs together, he’d always run with me at my pace. He’d always cheer me on, even sing as we ran, if i didn’t have music to run with.

The day of the marathon came, and at the starting line he promised to run with me the entire time. I kept telling him to run ahead at his pace and not at mine, but he said it’s not about finishing faster, it’s about the company.

So we started our 26 mile run, the two of us together, talking, laughing and enjoying the run. We were making great time, beating our practice run times at the half way point. But at mile 18, I started developing a stress fracture in my foot, making every step rather painful. He asked if we should stop, but being 8 miles away, I told him that I could do it. Then at mile 20, I was in so much pain - at the point of tears.

He took me to the first aid stop where they told me it was a stress fracture and that I should stay off of it. The only problem was that there were no ambulances beyond this point because it was so close. Thus, my only option was the walk the remaining 6 miles. I told M to finish the marathon and come find me, while I took it slow and just walked the rest of the way. M was adamant about staying with me, and said he made a promise and he would stick with it no matter what.

For 6 miles, M carried/supported me as we walked to the finish line. It took us 2 hours to walk the remaining 6 hours and he didn’t complain once about the walk or not finishing the marathon at a reputable time, or even carrying me at times. He cheered me up of my disappointment of not finishing at our intended pace, and made me laugh the entire 2 hours to get my mind off my pain. I knew from that moment on, that M was a keeper - he’s my companion, my protector, my supporter and cheerleader, and my best friend.

One of the photographers at the marathon, took a picture of M carrying me across the finish line, and every time I look at that, I’m reminded of why I said “I do.”

-g