Personal Invitation

When I left work yesterday the talk was all about the royal wedding. Who was going to get up early to watch and who was going to DVR it so they could sleep a little longer. I had no plans to watch at all and decided that if I was going to get up earlier I would go for a longer than usual morning run. I was not going to lose sleep to watch TV.

As I woke, I decided to have some fun with the day. I would call this my Royal Run. So I decided to be sure to put on my favorite running clothes for the event. You know the ones that make you feel good no matter what. My best outfit. My reflector vest of course, my best hat and my headlamp. The headlamp could be the camera because there had to be camera for such a glamorous event. There had to be music too so I grabbed my ipod.  I selected a playlist of just British invasion music. That would be perfect I thought. And what about food? Well a few Gu’s would do. Not the usual flavor Vanilla Bean, oh no that was for commoners. I reached for the purple ones, Jet Blackberry, since purple was a royal color.

I was running from my house at Lighthouse Point in New Haven to the dock at Branford Point. It was a perfect morning for running as the sky was clear with a bright crescent moon. Absolutely perfect. As I ran I never realized how many Beatles songs contain lines that could be thought of in terms of running. Listen sometime. When I turned the corner that lead to the docks the sun was just rising and “Here Comes the Sun” started playing. I could not have planned the event better. That particular song is my daughters favorite by the Beatles. It was the theme song in the Disney movie “The Parent Trap” which she watched SO many times. It reminded me fondly of how she use to put a towel on her head and march in her room pretending to be a princess getting married.

I looked out over the Long Island Sound to offer my best wishes to William and Kate. I told them that true happiness, one that was not fleeting, would be found in giving. I had a gut feeling they know this already. I hope I am right. As I arrived at the end of my run “Back in the USSR” was now playing and I could hear the line “ ..you don’t know how lucky you are boy…you don’t know how lucky you are”. At that point I was thinking that I really do know. It was a great run on a beautiful day and I was healthy enough to do it. When I got to work I was asked if I had watched the wedding? I said no but I gave myself a invitation and I was glad I went.

– Clark