September 10, 2022//Gene Leahy Mall at The Riverfront//AO-The Canyon//
Pax: Sandy Cheeks, Wentworth, Waffle House, Gunner, Spreadsheet, Wiley, Ditty, Demogorgon, Stumpy, Snowman, Caruso, Mac and Cheese, Misery
Q: Frosty
Today is special. Every day is special. Today was both wet AND special. YHC welcomed the PAX at 7 am. It was a delight to see TWO FNGs among us. Mission Statement, 5 Core Principles and the disclaimer were given. A quick announcement that today is Suicide Prevention Day. We were going to have fun and get a great beatdown but we were also going to talk about it. Suicide, like all mental health, needs to be talked about. To the grass for warm-o-rama
Thank you to everyone who reached out, posted and donated today
Warm O’ Rama The PAX circled up in the grass for warm-o-rama
10 SSH
10 Tappy-Taps
10 Big Ones
1 Alarm Clock (because, yes, its wet. Get over it)
Pre Thang: For the first this year, there was a chill in the air. Time for a little DEFROSTING!
Defrosting is an exercise I stole from a cross-fit friend and put my name on it. And it goes a little something like this:
10 – Air Squats
10 – Merkins
10 – Big Boy Sit-Ups
Then
9 – Air Squats
9 – Merkins
9 – Big Boy Sit-Ups
Then 8, then 7, then 6, then 5 and so on. Time is called at 5 minutes
Waffle House came in hot, and there was much rejoicing!!!
The Thang: Just your basic String-Of-Pearls to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, but like I told my good buddy Demogorgon “I live my life a quarter-mile at a time . . . or so”. So we stopped every ¼ mile-ish and did:
Break 1 – 5 Merkins, 5 Groiners, 5 Squat Jumps
Break 2 – 10 Merkins, 10 Groiners, 10 Squat Jumps
Break 3 – 15 Merkins, 15 Groiners, 15 Squat Jumps
Break 4 – 20 Merkins, 20 Groiners, 20 Squat Jumps
This brought us to the river. YHC gathered the Pax in front of a bench and read it to them.
“In Loving Memory of TJ Collins – Father, Son, Brother and Friend
Born: March 14, 2000. Left us: October 29, 2021
Enjoy the Beauty in the Madness”
I’m friends with TJ’s father Terry. His journey through his son’s suicide is simply devastating. With Terry’s permission I shared this Facebook Post of his from last week.
“10 months, 304 days ago, we heard you left us TJ…
NOTHING could have prepared me for that sudden loss! HARD RESET of my life’s values & evaluation of life itself – it’s meaning & purpose. What’s important and what is bullshit??
Seeing your daughter Harper this last week was SO filling and yet so heartbreaking as I see much of you in her She is a joy to behold!
I hope you can see her and watch over Becca & all of us. I am trying to be the man you want me to be and grow into my human role.
I want so much to talk to you, and do so in my prayers; to see you & hear your laugh, which I can in my mind – always.
I am, at times, lost and breathless with the sorrow; while at others laughing and glowing with the love you so freely shared with all you came into contact with…I feel it all and am grateful for it all.
You LIVE in us all while you travel the dimensions getting full on the answers to the deep questions we all have.
Travel well my son – with all the spirits & souls of those we’ve lost before & since – you are LOVED & MISSED!”
We moseyed to the base of the pedestrian bridge where we heard the testimony of one of our F3 brothers. He shared with us his inspiring story of deciding to commit suicide and being saved by police and a phone call from his mother. He shared his journey back with some professional help, some personal changes and joining F3. We put him in the middle and said a prayer of gratitude that he found us and we found him.
I can’t explain how much I admire what he did for us today. I know somebody needed to hear it.
Time to mosey back, stopping every ¼ mile because I TOLD YOU, I live my life a quarter mile at a time!
Break 1 – 5 Merkins, 5 Groiners, 5 Squat Jumps
Break 2 – 10 Merkins, 10 Groiners, 10 Squat Jumps
Break 3 – 15 Merkins, 15 Groiners, 15 Squat Jumps
Break 4 – 20 Merkins, 20 Groiners, 20 Squat Jumps
We added one additional stop on 13th Street to do line up and do 20 Monkey Humpers. 3 cars drove by and nobody honked. Maybe if Dome had been there they would have.
I truly enjoyed the mumble chatter during the runs today. It was great to get to know our FNGs a little bit and catch up with a few HIM I haven’t seen.
COT: Today’s COT was spread out between the TJ Collins Memorial Bench and the Testimony at the pedestrian bridge. BUT ending with a COT is a core principle, so YHC took us out with this. Today is Suicide Prevention Day and one of the facts I learned is people in crisis usually think nobody will care if they commit suicide. It’s not a “selfish act” because they feel like nobody will care or the world would be better. I wanted to make sure everyone there knew that simply wasn’t ever true and, as leaders, we made sure people around us know that as well.
3rd F today was raising a donation for the Allicyn Schuster Memorial Foundation. Allicyn committed suicide a little over a year ago. She is buried next to another young person named Jagger. I’m friends with her dad Kirk. His world will never be the same. With Kirk’s permission, I ended the COT with another Facebook post he wrote:
“If you ever wonder if someone will miss you, if you ever think leaving earth is the answer then I encourage you to come visit Allicyn Schuster and Jagger sometime up at 16 and 25 Cedardale Rd. There is a nice bench that I am sure all our families would come join you on. Jagger left way too soon without a choice, Alli left way too soon by making a choice. Two very different situations that both come with pain and heartache. Pain that will never go away, questions that will never be answered and future plans halted. As I sit here I just keep begging and wishing when Alli needed help she would have asked, I can’t change that but I can beg that if anyone reading this needs help or knows someone that needs help please, please, please reach out and get it. I know it’s not easy, I know it’s scary but it’s worth it. We have created a Non-profit memorial for Alli and the front page has several mental health professionals who will answer their phones, schedule you ASAP and work hard to help you so no one else has to feel this heartbreak we feel. www.allin4alli.org #allin4alli”
I took us out in prayer
Aye- Frosty