Blog

I have been in this state for 5 days now and more than ever I feel like I am in the south. People gave been gracious, polite and appreciative in their actions. Paducah lies at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers and played a significant role in the Civil War as a strategic control point for the shipping lanes. On a small street lies a brick home. Once the residence of Gen. Lloyd Tilghman it now houses a Civil War Museum. Artifacts grace the walls, pictures tell a story in a way words cannot…I walk away humbled by history.
Somewhere on US68 I begin to negotiate with God. Yep we have a talk. Numerous ones. The road has narrowed, the shoulder disappears and there is nowhere, I repeat nowhere to run. So I place the left wheel of the stroller out in the road and go with it…He must have listened to my terms because I was safe as cars passed by only inches away.Some things you just can’t explain. This road is called the Trail of Tears because it is a route that the Cherokee Indians were forced to travel as they were pushed west to Oklahoma and the reservations. As many as 12-15000 Cherokee and mixed other tribes travelled through Kentucky and two Native American Chiefs are buried in Hopkinsville, scores of others are buried where they fell along the trail. Unable to use their traditional medicines and diet many died along the route. The conditions were harsh and unimaginable and yet I complain about the lack of asphalt to run on…….
On a lighter note, I learn funny things.
“Jeet Yet?” ……….Defintion for Did ya eat yet? Is on a billboard outside Paducah…
“Bout a quarter mile”………is how far most things are… a quarter mile can include most things up to 5 miles….
and
that I will know I am in Tennessee because they will be wearing shoes…
but the most important thing:
Kentucky Bourbon is better than Jack Daniels….
ouch..

In the center of this state lies the community of Decatur. A large, bustling town that is surrounded by corn and soybean fields as so many communities are. It was also the home to Jesse Tilton, a medic in the Army who died in 2010 and whose flag has yet to be placed. His mother Julie was standing along the road at the end of my run today. She was there for him, but also for someone else she did not know. Army Specialist Julian Berisford was 25 years old when he died. His young wife and daughter Mya, carry on with their daily ritual of a life without Julian. Julie Tilton handles his flag, looks at the yellow ribbon before placing it in the ground. It is quiet. I do not know how much time I have left here in this world but she tells me that there is a place in heaven for me. A place next to her son and so many others. Says I have earned it.

History is all around as I move along. Clinton, IL and the American Legion hall have a framed tablecloth from the dinner provided to dignitaries on the USS Missouri the day of the Japanese surrender. It is stained with coffee spilled by General Douglas McCarthur. Fact and was acquired by a young Navy man from Clinton, IL who gave the mess hall attendant a month of his pay for the tablecloth. Fact.

Quote of the day: Your a hobo with a website……..Middle School Student