I never imagined that losing my mom would be the reason I started running.
After she passed, I signed up for a marathon in her honor. I wasn't a runner. I didn't know what I was doing. I just knew I needed somewhere to put all the love, sadness, and grief I was carrying.
I remember the first time I ran more than 10 miles. I completely broke down crying. It was the first time I realized that movement could be so much more than exercise. It could be a way to process, to heal, and to feel connected to someone I had lost.
That experience eventually led me to start GOOD GRiEF, a running community built around the idea that we don't have to carry the hard things in life alone.
What started as a way to honor my mom has turned into something so much bigger than I ever imagined.
If I could tell someone just starting their movement journey one thing, it would be this: You don't have to be a runner to start running. You don't have to be fit to start moving. You just have to start.
You never know where that first step might take you. And sometimes, the most beautiful things come from the hardest chapters of our lives.
You just have to start.