37 Comments

Great story telling as usual, Terrell. Thank you and Happy New Year. I was just discussing the topic of "tenacity" with a thought leadership group this morning, and boy did your grandmother demonstrate that. What a life! In terms of my running, I managed 100 miles in December thanks to your challenge, and am off to a good start in 2024. On pace for another 100 miles this month with a 10k this weekend in Central Park. Thanks for your constant support and looking forward to a great year ahead.

Expand full comment
Jan 3Liked by Terrell Johnson

Thank you for your comment. I can’t believe what he has seen in his lifetime. From horse and buggy( yup he remembers that) to planning missions to mars. Sounds like you will have a lot of photos to go through too. I think that is lost now that everything is on the phone. Second best thing about grandpa’s is no cell service 🤣

Expand full comment
Jan 2Liked by Terrell Johnson

Beautiful post. I’ll have to revisit that song. Like you I was never that into U2. More of a Nirvana girl back in the day. I’ve been spending time with my grandpa lately and I am so glad for the privilege. He is 96 and lives alone, sharp as a tack and amazing stories. I’m not a fan of this time of year but good thing is it’s almost another whole year before we gotta do it again 😝. Running helps.

Expand full comment

What a strong woman your grandmother was! I did get a chance to run a resolution run yesterday- 20 minutes 24 seconds out and repeat back. It had hills, it also had a lot of runners! Was great to see. Planning this month, this year to get back to the love of running. Have a question for group- is anyone doing the Run The Year 2024? I hound it about 8 years ago- have never ran the full amount, but I do count my daily miles as part of completion. If anyone else has signed up, let me know, I’d love to follow and cheer you on your journey! Happy New year!

Expand full comment

See the bird with a leaf in her mouth, after the flood all the colors came out.

Expand full comment

Happy New Year and hope everyone had a peaceful Christmas. I’ve done no running since Christmas Day! Except today when I started my 8 week training for my first 10km of the year in March. My plan this year to increase my distance and 10km seems achievable for me. Maybe by the time I’m 60 I could do a half marathon! Which is only a couple of years away. Training for a run is different to my usual running schedule where I try to do 5km as fast as I can. Now it’s about building my stamina for the longer run and my target for 10km is sub 55mins. I’ll be very pleased with a time as close to that as possible. Looking at your half marathon training programme it seems achievable to me. Just need to have the confidence to started. But let’s work on my 10km first. Really enjoying your posts, inspiring for me.

Expand full comment

I think about my paternal grandmother raising my father on her own in Atlanta. (My father was born in 1928, so you get an idea of when that would have been.) She was a practicing Catholic--or a "papist" in the more intentionally demeaning terminology of the era. Desperate for a job, the only person who would hire her was a Jewish lawyer. (Thank God for him.) "Other-ism" has many different layers and manifestations....but bless those strong women who refuse to give up.

Expand full comment
Jan 1Liked by Terrell Johnson

Such a great song and story! I resonate with so much of what you wrote. Thank you Terrell and Happy New Year!

Expand full comment
Jan 1Liked by Terrell Johnson

Such a story, but not uncommon. I could go on and on about my Great grandmother who left Utah and her husband who was a drunk and ran a distillery in his back yard--this was in the 20s during Prohibition--with 6 kids. . . She was a grade 1 teacher. . . landed in Bakersfield, Ca. . . Choctaw Indian. . .

Isn't it amazing how we all go on?

I've been reading Running with Raven. . .Can't put it down and savor every minute. He and I are so much alike. . .and I don't think we need to pay to run!

Starting to tune up for the Half Marathon, literally down the road at Amazon Park here in Eugene. The entire Marathon runs by the Willamette River down to Springfield, Or. Can I do it at 76--who knows? I'm sure going to try!

It is a beautiful day here after a week of fog. It has been so warm, the primroses are blooming.

Good to have you back! Best wishes for you and your running in the upcoming year! :)

Expand full comment
Jan 1Liked by Terrell Johnson

Lovely piece, Terrell! My family lived in Augusta for a few years when I was very young. I’d love to visit it again sometime.

Expand full comment

Perfect message for the New Year. Thank you.

Expand full comment
Jan 1Liked by Terrell Johnson

Happy New Year, Terrell (and everyone else). I hope 2024 will be filled with peaceful runs for us all.

Expand full comment

Terrell, I'm moved by the story of your grandmother. Thank you. And what a wonderful gift to offer up your training plans. I wish I were still a runner, but no. I'm a walker now. Happy New Year to you!

Expand full comment
Jan 1Liked by Terrell Johnson

I loved this story. Reminded me of my grandma who was a missionary in China before WW2 , was captured ( the whole family) by bandits and gave birth to my father on a forced march before they were released. Amazing strong women back then and I know amazing strong descendants of those women are all over the world modeling hope and resilience to the next generation

Expand full comment
Jan 1Liked by Terrell Johnson

Terrell, your family tree is deeply rooted. An amazing story I will come back to often. Thank you for this New Year’s gift. Your Grandma reminds me of Thich Nhat Hahn’s quote: I paraphrase. “The miracle is not that we walk on water, but that we walk on this earth”. What an incredible women. Thanks for sharing.

Expand full comment
Jan 1Liked by Terrell Johnson

Wow! Your grandmother was a saint! What happened to her? What job/jobs did she take? How did she make it? How did her life turn out? I’m sure I’m not the only one that wants to hear more. This sounds like it could be a fabulous novel . . . 👍🏼

Expand full comment