Blogger Spotlight: The Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation

Losing a child is the greatest loss a parent can ever endure. It's something you never get over yet a loss that can be transformed allowing Love to prevail. Joseph Scott Middlemiss would have turned 11 years old on 5/31. Shortly after he grew his angel wings on 9/23/13, Scott and Kate Middlemiss decided to create the Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation. The link will take you to Joey's story on their website.

During my meditation on June 20th, I was moved to write a poem to honor how Scott and Kate have transformed their grief into love:
To Kate and Scott on the 5th Anniversary of the Joseph Middlemisss Big Heart Foundation’s Celebrity Scoop Fest
In a world that often seems cruel and unfair you make sure that kindness lights the way
as we gather together to celebrate on this glorious summer’s day.
The 5th Annual Celebrity Scoop Fest brings a big hearted community together full of hope
out of heartbreak once unbearable grieving the Foundation blossomed a new way to cope.
Love heals all and all you need is love as Beatles music will fill the air
celebrity scoopers dishing ice cream, hamburgers hot dogs for all to share.
One little boy born 11 years ago now an angel a spirit so bright
inspires us all to make each day our best, peace and compassion always in sight.
Kindness awards and scholarships as Joey’s legacy you keep alive
he was such an incredible role model to be like him we should all work to strive.
The ripples of kindness and big hearted acts make this world a better place
thank you for having the courage to transform loss into wonder and grace.
Wishing you all of God’s blessings may your mission continue to prosper and grow
as Joseph Scott Middlemiss’ loving kindness in this world continues to flow.

They have created two community events to celebrate Joseph and to keep the legacy of who he was alive. Tom and I were blessed to attend the 5th Annual Celebrity Scoopfest. As Kate explained, they like to think of the Scoop Fest as a way to celebrate Joey's birthday. It's a time to bring together community, families, great food, fun and ice cream! It's also the time when The Foundation gives back with Kindness Awards and Scholarships:





When Tom and I arrived at the venue just shortly after the start time of 4pm, the party was in full swing. A Beatles tribute band was playing, celebrities were scooping ice cream, the smell of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs filled the air. Families and friends were gathered underneath a tent to savor fellowship and food.

My eyes went to the Dream Big table hosted by authors and my good friends Nancy Feehrer and Dave McGillivray:


After getting our food, we sat down and chatted with Team Big Heart member Amanda Muldoon. We 'met' her during her fund raising campaign for the 2018 Boston Marathon. We talked about Kate and Scott and the Foundation and what remarkable work they do. Team Big Heart running the Boston Maraathon raised over $100,000. Here are photos of Amanda's children and their cousins enjoying Scoop Fest:


We introduced ourselves to Michael Burns who will be running the Falmouth Road Race for Team Big Heart:


and had a meet up with Team Big Heart Boston 2018 member Jennifer Sprague and her adorable son Robbie:



Ellie Blumberg will be making her Bat Mitzvah this year. As part of her mitzvah project, she decided to make cookies and donate all of the proceeds to the Foundation. Tom and I bought a package of the cookies. When we met Robbie he was at first very shy so Tom gave him our pack of cookies which quickly made him feel very happy. She was the recipient of a Kindness Award:


Such a special evening meeting people in real life who we met through Facebook through Joseph.

We had our ice cream served up by Chris Lambert of Boston Channel 10 News who said it was his privilege to be a part of this event every year:


He incorporated the event into his Wednesday evening weather forecast!

We could all feel how Joseph blessed us with wonderful weather.

I reconnected with Andrea Walsh, board member, running on Team Big Heart for Falmouth who I met during the Boston Marathon Expo at the Dream Big booth. I am in awe of how quickly everyone becomes friends through Joseph.

Lyndie Shaw Board Director whose father owns Shaw Farm talked with us about what an honor and a privilege it is to be able to host the Scoop Fest each year.

After the Awards Ceremony, a local youth dance troupe took center stage wearing costumes that said no bullying zone on them. You can briefly see their performance in this video and feel the love pulsating through everyone who attended the event:



As we were leaving the event at 6:30 there were more waves of people stopping by to feel the Love and honor Joseph's memory.

The 2nd community annual event for the Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation happens around the time Joseph grew his wings. The 5th Annual Middlemiss Big Heart 5K is happening on September 22nd. Dress in your favorite Superhero outfit and run, walk or roll the course. Follow this link to register. Team McManus is registered and I'm so excited for another event where you know that all you need is love to get through the miles on the road and in life!



From my heart to yours,
To your health and wellness,
Mary

Proud to be a part of Friends of Blue Diamond Athletic Displays, Inc.

Be sure to visit my website by following this link.

My books are available on Amazon.

Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life


Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:


Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):


Coming soon *** The Adventures of Runnergirl1953 ****

Race Report Run for the Troops 5K - The icing on the cake!

I am deeply grateful for the gift of running in my life! I came to the sport late in life and ran my first marathon - the 2009 Boston Marathon at the age of 55! It's been a very Forrest Gump kind of journey....



When good friends get together for a great cause and you have absolutely perfect running weather, you know it's going to be a great day!

I had not run a race since the 2017 Bermuda Half Marathon. I learned so many lessons during that race that I was able to apply during yesterday's Run for the Troops 5K.

Team McManus ran as part of the Merrimack Valley Striders team:


Our relationship with the Striders dates back to February 2009 when I met Ric Beaudoin who was enthralled with my journey on the road to the Boston Marathon. He brought me into the fold of the MVS running Club and L Street Running Club. I've been blessed to be the guest speaker at both Clubs sharing my journey from the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome to the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond!

As a sidebar, after yesterday's race, I saw Steve Cooper with whom I shared the mic at an MVS meeting back in 2010:



Back to the race report....There was so much pre-race excitement and festivities that I did not have time to experience pre-race jitters until right before it was gun time.

We met up with Alan Dyer and his son:


and one of the members of MVS snapped this photo of us with Lyn Licciardello, the wife of MVS' founder Tom Licciardello:


We got to meet one of our dear Facebook friends, Jacqui Kennedy in real life!



You can feel the joy of what happens when running family gets together at a race!

There were bagpipes and a parade to honor our military heroes:



As we were walking toward the starting line I felt those familiar pre-race butterflies. Tom reassured me that those were completely normal and healthy; everyone gets them he reassured me.

My pre-race jitters tended to have an extra kick to them as a survivor of paralytic polio. Memories of lugging a leg brace and being left behind along with the taunts and jeers of cruel children before disability awareness was a thing plagued me. It was deeply ingrained into my body and Being. Running the 2009 Boston Marathon surely helped with my transformation but it's something that comes up at every starting line.

I realized how, in Bermuda, with the announcement of a 4 hour time limit for the Bermuda Half Marathon this year, I pushed myself and raced when I didn't have to because the finish line would be open for the marathoners. In addition, I knew the Race Director and knew he wouldn't have denied me a medal or acknowledging my finish if I went over 4 hours!

But old habits and beliefs die hard ... until you have a race like yesterday's Run for the Troops 5K.

It was an incredibly crowded field with a lot of slower paced runners at the middle and back of the pack. There was no way I could go out too fast or have that memory kick up inside of me of seeing everyone take off and leave me in the dust. I've done a lot of mental training to heal that memory but it's funny how quickly it can rear its head. After yesterday's race in combination with receiving an invitational entry to the Bermuda Half Marathon 2018, that wound is beautifully healing!

It was exhilarating to see runners ahead of me and feel that I was running with the pack. I was able to push my pace and then back down when I needed to. What a joy to run from the inside out without pressure for a specific time.



What a joy to run side by side with some of my Strider family. Robin Lynn was pushing her daughter Molly in the stroller. There were other Striders who were running in our part of the pack and it was wonderful to share some conversation and the joy of running with them. It was a challenging course and a little after mile 2 there was a hill with 248' elevation. I was able to charge up the hill without stopping and only had a +.03 split on my pace. I was able to listen to my body and knew I had to bring my heart rate down after the concerted effort on the hill. For my last mile I had a -0.42" split. My pace was the best pace I'd had in over a year and with the hills I was very pleased with my time and how I ran the race.

I finished 39/67 in my age group, 60-64 years old!

Here's Team McManus at the finish:


I have a new appreciation for who I am as a runner. I am running for health and use the sport of running to run for great causes. I run for joy. What a gift to have contracted paralytic polio and then endure 9 years of unrelenting violence and then be diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome having been told I'd spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I appreciate everything I am able to do! I run for health and to see just what this 63 year old body can do after all I've been through!

Every step of running unencumbered and free is a gift!

So many things I love about running and training but I must agree with Bill Rodgers who says that racing is the icing on the cake.

To your health and wellness,
~Mary

Be sure to visit my newly designed website at marymcmanus.com

My latest book, 'Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance' is available on Amazon chronicling my journey to health and wellness as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma and a woman who refused to quit!

#WithCompassion Reconciliation Meditation

Give the Dalai Lama, who has dedicated his life to peace and kindness, the ultimate 80th birthday present: share how you will make the world a more compassionate place using #WithCompassion. The Dalai Lama is turning 80 years old on July 6, but he doesn't want any gifts.

A few years ago I wrote this poem about compassion: (which will be in the soon to be released Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life)
The Flower of Compassion

She takes root
this fragile flower
at heart center
tendrils travel
outstretched arms
a hand to hold
a gentle sigh
petals glisten with gentle tears
a warm knowing smile
beauty to behold
holding space
for the flower of compassion to bloom.



During my meditation the other day, I felt my heart open as I felt compassion for many people who have hurt me through the years. Shortly after being diagnosed with post polio syndrome in what now seems like another life time, I wrote letters of forgiveness to both of my parents. My dad asked for our forgiveness in his suicide note and so it was easier to forgive him but I know how important forgiveness is to create peace and harmony within and in the world. It was more challenging to experience forgiveness for my mother and my grandmother and it had been very challenging for me to forgive people who I experienced during the past few years of my healing journey.

In the quiet of my mind and in the openness of my heart, I was able to experience their suffering for their treatment of me was clearly a manifestation of their own suffering. I did not set out to experience a reconciliation meditation, it just happened and Tom helped me to name it after I told him what I experienced.

With compassion, with a consistent meditation practice and having like-hearted, tender-hearted people be a part of my life now, my natural state of Being - joy, gratitude, compassion, LOVE, peace, contentment, laughter, vibrancy and wholeness rise to the center of my life. Anger, frustration, judgment and hurt settle like silt and no longer have power over me. It's a beautiful practice of settling down and settling in to my natural state of Being.

When we heal ourselves with love and compassion, when we practice reconciliation and forgiveness, we heal the world!

Happy Birthday HH Dalai Lama.

Cheers! To life! To compassion! To loving ourselves well and to feeling the heal.



You can find all of my inspirational books on Amazon.