One night last week, my 8-yr-old bonus daughter, Reagan, challenged me to a race in the front yard. Reagan exudes confidence when it comes to competition. It’s one of my favorite things about her.
When my other two bonus daughters (twin 11-year-olds) caught wind of the race, they quickly signed up. Not far behind them: my new hubby, Matt. Now, Reagan gets her competitive nature honest. Matthew is not short on self-confidence, himself. Just like Reagan, he joined the start line fully believing he had me beat. Barefoot, the five of us anxiously took our spots. The race route was to the neighbors' yard and back.
Three… Two… One!
What I have failed to mention so far is that I also have a competitive nature. I was so sure that I would smoke Matt and Reagan that I was taken aback when I realized I was going to have to work a lot harder if I wanted to beat Matt. Matt will tell you he DID win the first race, but he will leave out the part that I slipped on leaves and fell halfway through. I had to beg him for a re-match! “If we’re going to do it again, we’re going to do it right” Matt insisted. “We’re going to lace up and race the road.” A few minutes later, running shoes on, we took our new spots on the road. We placed one twin on either side of the finish line as line judges.
Three… Two… One!
It pains me to admit this race was actually a close call! “LoLo got it!” screamed Ella! “I don’t know!” cried Bailie. “Best two out of three,” challenged Matt.
Three… Two… One!
For the third—and final—race, I tapped into my inner roadrunner and left no question about which Merritt was faster. Ahhhh! Victory is sweet! For days now, Matt still talks about the race. He will ask anyone who will listen, “Can you believe she beat me at a footrace?!” Back in his glory days, he was untouchable. And now he was beat by a girl… his wife, no less! The loss was hard for him to take. Loss of any kind can be hard to accept. With quarantine and social distancing today, many of us are experiencing loss of normalcy, routine, time with friends and family, and maybe even income. During times like these, it's important that we all stick together. Hopefully you are not experiencing the loss of a loved one on top of everything else, but I am here to help if you are. Offering free consultations. (850) 427-2228.
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