It’s hard to believe it’s been two and half months since Kim and I completed our Motch Across America adventure. With a little bit of time to reflect on 88-days living out of our panniers, riding 4,165 miles, meeting some really cool people, the more the adventure becomes even more unimaginable. On top of that we maintained our health, had no accidents, didn’t get hit by a car, and with your help, we raised over $25,000 for the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance.
Since returning home Kim and I have been given many opportunities to share our adventure with others. It’s been great to delve into some of the lessons we took from this trip. We continue to learn from it as we ourselves try to navigate our future. The overall goal of the entire adventure has been to inspire others. Life is hard, and we are constantly bombarded with images and information about how one should live our lives. Our hope is that our example(s), including the highs and the lows, will make people think outside the norm, if compelled, to choose their own brand of happiness in their own lives and minds. Make decisions with intent. Life is too short to just get through it. And to be brutally honest, it’s hard for me to do. I stive for this lofty goal and have failed miserably, at times, to be present in the day, to be present in my decisions and to make decisions with intent. But I’m trying hard to do better.
Kim and I are also trying harder to look around and more fully appreciate what we have. At one time in our lives, we had a lot of “stuff” and made comparisons of the quality of our lives to others and their stuff. After some choices in our lives, both poor and healthy, we have much less stuff. Because of that we get to more easily see the value of everything else that we do have. The value of everything that isn’t “stuff” is immeasurable. We try to compare ourselves to no one. But it’s not easy at times.
My parents were great examples for Kim and I. I’ve always said that I had a bike, a baseball glove and a pair of hockey skates, and felt like I had all the “stuff” one could ever need. My dad’s, Stanley, health had been failing over the last few years. While we were about halfway through our bicycle trip, he had a fall at home, which led to a nursing home. We easily could have cut our trip short and came home, but Dad, and the rest of our family, said we need to finish what we started.
Upon our return I was given a real gift of spending a lot of quality time with Dad. He was proud of our adventure and bragged to anyone that would listen. Even as he struggled, he always tried to show hope and show grace towards others. As dad’s health continued to decline, he never wavered on his goal of going home. During some of his tougher nights I was able to witness his faith as we prayed, sang his favorite hymns to the delight of everyone down the hall and heard his confession. Little did I know, and maybe Dad did, home was with his parents and all his bothers and sisters. Dad went home on October 21, to be with our maker and all those before him.
During one of our nights together, as the doctors were trying to get Dad’s drug regiment figured out, Dad was in a mystical state of mind, and thought we should turn his room at the nursing home into a Motch Across America memorial with a big trophy on the wall. It was pretty darn cute. As always, he was thinking about others, rather than himself. We are feeling good just settling for the many opportunities we’ve had to share our adventure with others, as our memorial. Here’s a link to a recent article from the Forest Lake Times, my growing up hometown. Across the country in 88 days | News | hometownsource.com. This and other sharing opportunities can be found on the “In The Media” page of our blog at www.motchacrossamerica.com .
The picture characterizes our inspiration. Thank you all for making an impact on our lives! Play Well!!
Nicely said, John! Love you!