Less Than Seven Seconds

It's the last track season for my oldest son.

The end of an era.

He's had a great run (pun intended).

I have so many pictures of the scoreboards at different track meets over the years.

Time captured in seconds, not minutes or hours.

He's a sprinter, so we often drive several hours each way to watch him run for only a few seconds.

During indoor season, he runs the 60 meter, which is the shortest possible distance at a track meet.

It's become a running joke for us that we drive all that way, in the Wisconsin winter, just to watch him run for "less than seven seconds."

Truthfully?

I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world during that seven seconds.

I’ve watched him sprint through high school and college, chasing finish lines and becoming who he is along the way.

The drive. The determination.

The pride when he wins.

The discipline when he doesn’t.

That’s what makes this mom so unbelievably proud.

I think about how much has happened in the last 22 years, and how each 7-second run has been a tiny, but significant blip in his journey.

And I think about how all of us have those less than seven seconds moments.

Those moments that are a culmination of all of our hard work and training.

Moments that go by in a blink but carry so much weight in our lives.

The numbers on our figurative scoreboards only showing a snapshot in time.

We know what those numbers represent.

Because the real victory is never just the number. It's who we had to become to earn it.

I'm going to miss those long drives to watch him run for less than seven seconds.

Because every second, every stride, every push on that track, represented a step in his journey.

And I got to be there to witness it.

Funny how the years seem to have disappeared in a blink…

But those seven seconds can hold an entire lifetime.

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