Job’s Birthday Celebration

AO: Cruelhall

PAX: Bagger Vance, Donuts, Edible Arrangement, Dr. Smartt, Floppy Disk, Big Bang, Funyuns, CCR, PSL, Bartman, Blood Clot, Torch, Tortoise, Love Boat, Giggem, Cajon, CAPSLOCK, Accounts Receivable, Blackwater, Rooster, Grisham, Dupree, Prevac, Cinderella, Umbrella, Yard Sale, Big Stick, Foxtrot Talks A lot, Ludwig von Beethoven, Braveheart, Numb Tucks, Harvey Updyke, Offshore, Swamp Fox, Captain Derivative, Private Sandman, Black Widow, Olan Mills, Hood Rat (FNG), Wedding Planner (FNG), Ettou-five (FNG), Bernie Madoff (FNG), Honey Badger (FNG), Fancy Pants (FNG), GreaseTrap QIC

When I arrived there was a welcome party doing extra credit burpees, which I did not partake in. I watched Bagger, Funyuns, and BigBang put there rucks on which I advised would not be a good idea. They should have known that you don’t have to make my workouts harder.

Everything in the workout was based around two numbers(more to come on this):

135- the number of days Job lived after being diagnosed with DIPG

6- this day (Dec 8) was his birthday which he turned 6 years old.

Here is how everything went down:

There was some malicious intent on our part with the warmup. For all the FNG’s, we normally run a slow loop and circle up to stretch and warmup. That was not our plan. At the strike of 5:30 Edible hollers to circle up with some SSH in cadence. The joy to me was no one but a few pax knew how many we were going to do. Edible did a fantastic job calling out 135 SSH. Not only did he do them all, but he kept good cadence. Props to him. I will remember for a long time Bagger standing there waving his hands in the air. Haha.

Once finished I brought everyone in to explain the significance of the day and what the numbers meant. We were there to workout so no long speech for me, and I sent pax off to grab coupons and meet again under pavilion.

We had already knocked out 1 of 6 135 reps exercises, so here was the rest:

Partner up- count reps together

135 merkins with coupon on back switching off

135 Burpees (shoot me)

135 Tabletop jumps (some pax did bench jumps-weak)

135 coupon squats (FNG- Wedding Planner has the best form out of all of us)

135 Rows with coupon on chest

You had 5 min to compete each round and if not finished, move to the next exercise to keep up with time.

Put coupons up and meet back in parking lot for COT. Skipped Mary. 44 Pax took a min, but it was so cool. 5 FNG’s to meet and name. I knew all of them from different walks of life, and it was great for them to be there.

Prayer and then the announcement there was Donuts and coffee at Dupree’s church next door for everyone.

Words can not describe how much each of you have meant to me this year. It started out as a workout, and had lead to some of the best friendships. You all have been there with me through the whole time. There are moments that I will never forget- at the hospital Edible and Calf Killa were some of the first people to see us after the diagnosis, who, at the time did not know us that well. You all sent letters, texts, and recourses to me that I can not describe how much helped. You have always been there, at my house, when I said I needed help within 10 minutes. I particularly remember on Sept 14 I sent a text out and you were there in my driveway, quick. You prayed for us everyday and still do! Your wives have become some of Katie’s best friends and have given her so much strength. You have shown us a lot of love, and I am so thankful!

The 135 days Job lived after the diagnosis were some of the hardest but sweetest times of my life. With this type of news, your perspective on life changes, and it did that to me. I will cherish those days with Job for the rest of my life. I was suffering at the time, and F3 was what seamed to be the only constant in my life. Everything in my life turned upside down, but F3. I was still there because you gave me strength to go home and face the reality of my life.

Thanks to all of you who showed up Friday morning. It means a lot to me.

GreaseTrap