Keep Goin' Part 5

The conclusion to Keep Goin'. Here are the links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

A couple of days passed, and it was time to go to the funeral home for the wake. I had never been to a wake, so I didn’t really know what to expect. As I walked into the room with the rest of my family, I just felt so bad. It was hard for me, but I couldn’t imagine how hard it was for my Grandma, my Mom, and my uncles. Everyone broke down to tears as they saw my grandpa. Soon, many different people started to arrive, and I met many people that I did not remember seeing in my life. I met people that would say, “The last time I saw you, you were this tall,” as they held their hand at about their waist. It was very nice to re-unite with so many friends and family but the occasion was horrible. There were two more wakes after the first. I got used to the sad atmosphere but I wasn’t able to forget what had just happened.

On the car ride home after the second wake, I asked my Mom, “Before the casket is closed, don’t people put items inside?” She explained that some people do that. I had the perfect thing to put inside. She just said that I would have to make sure it was alright with my Grandma. The next morning I went into my closet and looked for my first pair of racing shoes. There they were, my white Saucony Kilkenny’s. They were worn out from using them in many of my races. The white color was fading to a tan color. Running in them in cross country during those rainy days sure did do some damage. It was perfect. I couldn’t think of a better person that deserved to have them. The next morning we drove to the funeral home. My Mema said, “John, Mark has something for you.” We put them inside the casket, and I said goodbye. I didn’t want to believe it, but he was gone.

Two weeks passed, and it was time for the Section XI Small School Championships. The day before, my Mom was at my Mema’s house going through some of my grandpa’s things. She came home that night with a small green box. She gave it to me. I opened it, and inside was eighty Sacagawea dollar coins.

“Mema wanted you to have these. She knows how much you like to collect coins,” said my Mom.

“Thanks, why did Grandpa have these?”

“He collected them. Pretty cool, right?”

“Yeah! I better call Mema and thank her.”

The coins were really cool, and I went to bed that night thinking about my race that I would run the next day. I was so pumped up. It was the last race of the season, and I had to leave it all out there. I was running the two mile. In the morning I packed my track bag. I packed a change of clothes, water, snacks, a watch, and my Brooks T5’s. Grandpa touched these shoes; so they had to be lucky. As the bus pulled up to Suffolk Community College something popped into my head. I should run with one of the Sacagawea coins! I knew exactly where to put it. In our running shorts there was this small pocket that was on the inside. It was the perfect size for a coin. Many of my other friends on my team put lucky things in theirs. My friend B-CON puts his necklace in there and my other friend Wesley puts a penny in that perfect pocket. I guess all people have their own good luck charms. Now I had mine. I whipped out my phone and texted my Mom. I hoped she hadn’t left the house yet. I asked her to bring one of the coins. She didn’t answer me back, so I was afraid she didn’t get the message. “FIRST CALL 3200!” I put on my T5’s and walked over to the clerking area. “SECOND CALL 3200!” We were all lined up getting ready to walk over to the starting line. “LAST CALL 3200!” It was time to race. I looked over to the stands and saw my Mom signaling me to go over to her. I dashed over to her as quickly as I could. She took the coin out of her pocket and gave it to me. “Good luck!” I placed the coin in my little running pocket, and I got to the starting line. I heard the gun, and we were off. A picture of my grandpa in my head was yelling, “Go, Mark, go!!!” I got off to a great start and I was running with two other kids. We were going at a fast pace. I stuck with them for the first ten laps, and then the pain started to settle in. My body was screaming at me, “You can’t keep this pace!” I didn’t listen, and I stayed with them. With three laps to go, I almost gave in and then thought of the coin in my pocket. I muttered to myself, “I’m doing this for you, Grandpa,” and I took off. I started my kick with two laps to go. I passed the kids I was running with and I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face. My teammates were going crazy. I must have run a great time. I did, I ran a 10:31.71. This was a big personal record. I took the coin out of my pocket and said, “Thanks, Grandpa.” I gave it back to my Mom. What a race.

The rest of the day I was so happy. It was time to go to bed, and I went to the bathroom to wash up. I brushed my teeth and put my retainer on. I went into my parents’ room and said goodnight to my Mom and Dad. I walked into my room, and the Sacagawea coin was sitting on my desk. I picked it up, kissed it, put it in my desk drawer, and said, “Goodnight, Grandpa.”