I just finished watching the 10 o’clock news on Channel 5 and they were interviewing Heather, the wife of Sonny Melton who was killed during the Las Vegas shooting and how she is starting different memorial foundations and scholarships to honor his memory.

I got to thinking about this picture of my three younger children and how they ran the Country Music half marathon in April of 2013 after Danny had died in January of 2013.

The Country Music marathon in Nashville is held each year around the last week in April which being that Danny’s birthday was April 29th it seemed a good way for all of us to be together and to honor his memory. The money raised from this goes to fund the St. Jude Hospital for children.

I also participated in this event and walked the 5k with my friend Barbara. Most of our family was in Nashville that weekend and we spent the weekend celebrating and thinking of Danny.

My friend Barbara and I stopped along the route at this one turn and waited for the half marathon runners to pass by because we knew that my kids would be in that group. We waited for so long that our feet became numb from the cold rain. It had been a horrible forecast and it had rained a cold bitter rain during the whole event.

We did get to see the kids and then we walked on. We probably placed last in our division but we didn’t care.

After we got to the finish of the 5k we still had to wait a long time as the half marathon was still going on so we positioned ourselves to where we would be able to see the finish line when my kids crossed over.

The above picture was taken as they ran towards the finish line and they all three held up 4 fingers on one hand and 2 fingers on the other hand as the number 42 was always Danny’s sports numbers when he played ball. I cried so hard during the taking of this picture and I could not have been more proud of my children and how they honored their brother in this way.

Melinda had a company make us all these special shirts that we wore and on the back it says Running for Danny. They later told me that during the race an older man ran past them and said, Who is Danny? They replied that he was their brother and the man replied that that was his name and he smiled as he ran along. They felt like their brother was right there with them.

Tonight, I got to thinking about Heather Melton and about our family and other families that I know that have suffered death of a close loved one and I have thought of scholarships at graduations, motorcycle rides, marathons, and different events that these families do to carry on and honor their loved one.

None of us want to forget our Danny and the more we share of him and his life the more it passes his legacy on.

I write the things that I write for that reason too. I believe that our hurts need to be channeled and turned from the bad things to something good and constructive.

1 Corinthians 15 verse 58 in the NIV says this:

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Satan would be so happy if we just lay down and quit when bad things happen to us and our families but to me that is letting him win. Of all the families I know in this home area of mine that have lost loved ones they have honored and pressed on in some way the memory of their loved one.

I am not saying that it is easy because it is not but we love talking of our loved one and sharing about them and keeping their memory alive. Plus, if this is a help to someone else then it makes the hurt so much easier.

I always tell my kids when they are down in the dumps about something to go out and find someone to do something nice for and it is a way of channeling their hurt into something good. There is always someone out there that is worse off than we are.