Journey to Kona Day 140: What Really Matters

As I drove to the airport today, I was thinking about my blog.  My original plan was to stick to the theme of the past few days and write about my 20 minute swim this morning.  An interview I heard on the radio changed that. Sometimes, other things matter more than training for Kona.  This year happens to be the 20th anniversary of the Columbine shootings.  I remember like it was yesterday, where I was when I heard about it.  I was at an airport, flying home from a business trip.  Initially, the t.v. showed a school in Colorado.  First of all, a lot of the schools in Colorado look similar, and I’ll never forget my first reaction was that the video looked a lot like the school my kids went to.  Fortunately, for the sake of one dad concerned about his kids, they showed the name of the school.  At least my kids were ok.  However, I could only begin to think about the parents of the kids at that school.  Twenty years later, it was remarkable to hear an interview with the principal of Columbine, and to learn what he had learned from the experience.  What really matters in life is what I took from listening to the interview.  Every day is a gift, and I’m thankful for the many wonderful things that life has brought me.

Apparently, after Columbine, there was discussion of what to do with the school.  Ultimately, they decided to keep the school “as is,” although subsequent school shootings have led to different outcomes.  What blew me away, and something that I’d never thought about, was that there are people who visit the school as some sort of tourist attraction.  They even have busses that pull up to the school.  Other people try to enter the school grounds in order to take pictures.  Wow!  I would definitely understand any decision to significantly change the school grounds.  The worst of all the scenarios are the “copycats,” which recently occurred, and continues to grow, amongst people who weren’t even born at the time!

So, once again, I’m reminded of what’s important.  My ironman journey matters, but in the big scheme of things, I’m thankful that I’m able to get in the pool, or go for a run.  I’m certainly thankful to be able to take care of my grandson, with whom I just left my wife to fend for herself for 36 hours!  I hope that he’ll be easy on her.  I’ll be back in time to help the last day.  And that’s what matters.