BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE
Door to door I knocked...
Seeking sponsors...
Many happy pledges at ten cents a mile...
How long are you walking?
Until I finish I smiled...
How many miles is it?
Twenty-six miles I smiled...
Where is it?
Boston...
How old are you?
I am twelve...
Why are you doing this?
To raise money for kids...
The year was 1979...
Have you done this before?
No...
I will sponsor you twenty-five cents a mile someone offered...
Oh wow!
I thought to myself...
They must be rich...
I knocked on more doors and everyone sponsored me...
Time was up and I needed to turn in the form...
Saturday morning I had to be up at 5:00 A.M.
Dad I'll wait for you in the car...
Remember, I have to be there early so I can get my number...
It's a two hour drive Dad...
Are you sure you want to go through with this?
Yes, it's only twenty-six miles...
Only?
Sure...
It would be a lot more if I chose to ride the bike...
Why didn't you do the bike sign up?
They said I had to have working breaks...
The temperature was getting warmer as the day went on...
Pit stops every few miles...
Ambulances were picking up people who needed medical attention...
Ten more miles to go...
Pit stop just ahead...
The pit stop was empty...
Next pit stop should have something...
I made it to the finish line and a little further my parents would be waiting...
They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw me...
All week I went back to collect the money from my sponsors...
People were pulling out anything from one dollar to two dollars and fifty cents...
I had to pull out my completion paper and the sponsorship paper...
Did everyone forget how much they were sponsoring?
I thought to myself...
Oh hello a sponsor greeted me with a smile...
How did you do?
Good, I replied back with a smile...
Here you go...
You sponsored me twenty-five cents a mile...
That's right...
You gave me two dollars and fifty cents...
That's right...
That's for ten miles?
That's right...
I didn't think you would have done more than eight miles...
I am not rich...
I believe I told you it was twenty-six miles...
Yes, you did...
But, twenty-five cents a mile for twenty-six miles that comes out to...
Six dollars and fifty cents...
You finished?
Yes...
I didn't believe you would be able to walk that far...
That's why I sponsored so much money...
Neither did my other one hundred sponsors...
I smiled...
Hugs...
sparrowsong
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Comments
Hi Sweet Sparrowsong,
What a beautiful story from the past. For today, you cannot get into the Boston Marathon unless you run another one and post a time of four hours or better. But you, a determined twelve year old, with the heart of a lion, the precursor of "Boston Strong". One hundred sponsors, ten cents a mile or more. She'll do six or eight thought they. But you floored them all and crossed the finish line. Twenty six miles from start to end, and instead of just some pocket change, some dollars they had spend.
Hugs, Peace and Love,
Larry xxx
P.S. Linda is from the Boston area, too.
Hello Larry...
I had three choices for the fundraiser...
I could have joined the run, walk, or bike...
I chose the walk...
I told my parents they should sponsor the most amount...
My dad said he would sponsor $5.00 a mile, but my mom said that's $130.00...
My dad said do you think she'll really finish?
My mother said don't ask me I'm lucky if I walk 2 miles each way...
Dad ended up sponsoring me $1.50 per mile and she told him to put her down for $1.00 per mile...
I needed my dad to write the check and I had to give him the cash...
I told him how much to write it for and his jaw about hit the floor...
I showed him the paper and the total was on the bottom...
I had raised over $400 more than what he expected...
He told me to give him the money and I told him to give me the check first made out to the organization...
LOL!
He did...
It's sad how things have changed...
Can't even go anywhere anymore and everyone's looked at as a terrorist and...
We helped them become one...
Well, we didn't but someone from here sure did...
Everywhere that tragedy has struck is Strong and should be Proud for comforting and supporting each other in time of crisis and in times of peace...
:)
Thank you for your kind and sweet comment...
Hugs, Peace and Love
sparrowsong