What do you say?
When you walk in to the hospital room and see your mother for the first time since finding out she has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. You might think you would burst into tears. You might go running out of the room because the severity of the situation is so completely overwhelming. You don't, you smile and say as cheerfully as you can while choking back tears "Hey there sicky!" then you hug and kiss and keep on smiling. Eventually you begin to talk about what is really going on and you start to feel the helplessness creep over you. You begin to look for ways that you can help even though you realize that there is absolutely nothing you can do short of getting a fast track degree in oncology. But when you are a runner and you leave your emotions on the pavement, you start to feel like moving is the only thing you can do to stay sane. But if you are a runner you realize that running won't push you far enough or honor the fight enough. So you say "Hey mom, I guess I'm gonna have to do a triathlon with Team in Training now." You can't swim or ride a bike but you tell her you are going to try. Because how else do you honor the strongest fighter you know? You step outside of your comfort zone, you do things you have never done before. You do them because you love her and you Just Gotta TRI.