These shoes are made for running

Today I watched a young mom try to coax two little girls into the middle of a fountain, the kind with water jets that spray playfully up from the ground in changing patterns. The tiny girls in pink swimsuits hovered on the edge chattering with delight but wouldn't set foot in the fountain despite Mom's pleas: "Run! Go on! You can do it! I'll be waiting right here!" Finally, Mom took them by the hand and ran through the water with them. That was all it took: soon they were running wild, splashing and stomping and squealing with glee, but always running back to Mom.

Instantly I saw an image of my daughter running down the center line of our road, her long hair swinging back and forth as she disappeared around the next long curve. We had gone for a long walk and since my pace was a little slow on the uphills, we agreed that she would run on ahead and double back to me. It seemed a sensible enough plan, but as she disappeared around the corner, I was suddenly struck with a sense of our aloneness. That section of road runs through thickly wooded hillsides suffused with the scent of honeysuckle and with no houses in sight; evening was falling and the birds were making jungly sounds in the trees. I started to think of the stray dogs that wander our road and the stray rednecks who roar by in rusted pickup trucks. Don't go, I wanted to call out to her. Come back!

But I didn't. She's a smart chick, I reminded myself, and a tough one too--and besides, she's carrying two five-pound weights with which, if necessary, she could fight off strays of the canine or human variety. She's really quite safe, I told myself. Really. But I picked up the pace until I rounded the curve and saw her triumphant, hands held high, dancing for joy in the middle of the road. She had reached her goal and was on her way back to me, for a while anyway.

Next time the goal might be farther away, the risks greater, but I'll still watch her run, hair swinging behind her, as she makes her way around the next long curve. Run, I want to say. Go on! You can do it!

I'll be waiting right here.