I know it’s been a while…I’ve let life kind of creep in. The weight of the pandemic, our new work-from-home, teach-from-home, teach our kids-from-home situation. I’ve kept busy to keep anxiety at bay. It has been hard to find the calm in the storm. Except when you have Michelle….
Michelle is one of the leaders of the Make A Wish Trailblaze Challenge. I’ve always been impressed by her. The fact that she travels hundreds of mile most weekends of the year to lead training hikes for Trailblazers. The fact that she seems to be able to sprint down a trail on which I could barely stay upright. The fact that she’s always smiling…a soft, gentle smile, but it’s always there.
I’d be lying to you if I said that I wasn’t intimidated by Michelle when I first met her. She seemed so confident, and, even with that soft, gentle, smile, she was quiet. I tend to get a little nervous around people who are quiet. Maybe it’s my anxiety getting the best of me. Trying to figure out if they approve of me. Or in the Trailblaze Challenge, trying to figure out if they’re thinking, “Oh my gosh! She’s never gonna make it. We’re going to have to pull her off the trail.”
But, I very quickly realized that those were my own insecurities. As I hiked more hikes, I slowly got to know Michelle more. I began to realize that maybe she was just introverted, like me. I began to realize that she was ALWAYS in my corner. When I fell down, she was there to help and reassure. When things didn’t go as planned or when there was an emergency, she was the calm in the storm.
And she still is. Throughout the pandemic, Michelle has kept our Make A Wish family bonded together. Her biggest among big hearts has introduced us to “Staycation” races. She is always sharing a post of encouragement and love. Never arguments or hate. Which is a precious gift these days. She takes interest in what myself and my family are doing. She is always saying thank you. She’s never taking credit. She is an amazing LEADER!
And she has inspired me. If you count the word inspire as I write this blog, I have no idea how many times it will show up in the posts. You may be sitting there thinking, this is all just a little too “feel good” of a story. Nobody gets inspired that often. But, you do when you’re a Trailblazer. Michelle has inspired me to do things that I never thought were possible. When I timidly asked about the Trailblaze 2.0 Challenge: 28.3 miles with, well let’s just say a little more elevation, I thought she might think I was overstepping my abilities. Instead, she told me how elated she was. She encouraged me. She offered training tips. And so, I began to train harder. To train on harder hikes, and to make more involved fundraising efforts, too. And every time she hears about one of those things, she responds. She is always there. She is the calm in my storm…my quarantine storm…my anxiety storm… When I reached the confidence to ask to tackle the Trailblaze Challenge Trilogy (we’ll get to it later, but suffice to say three 28.3 mile weekends), she encouraged me yet again.
So, how do you represent someone that means so much? You know by now that colors mean a lot to us. But, Michelle has done so much more than hike the hikes that are represented by those colors. In fact, she hikes them multiple times every time we take a step on trail, because she is out there supporting us. In fact, she reminds us of our mission and inspires us to create new ways to achieve it. In fact, she gives us confidence when maybe we don’t have it. I am so thankful to her and for her. So, instead of just one color, or two, or three, only the entire rainbow seemed to be appropriate. She is the calm in the storm. And I am humbled to call her leader, mentor, and friend. Here’s to Michelle!
The Pattern: the pattern for Michelle’s square is Guinevere by Lisa Mauser. The color are altered to represent the colors of the Trailblaze Challenge shirts, and the rainbow, of course. The pattern is available for free on Lisa’s blog at https://thislittlehookofmine.blogspot.com/2020/01/guinevere.html.
