The race is over...

...but the Kelly Murray Scholarship Fund is still accepting donations!

Greetings from recovery. Physically, I am feeling fine- a bit sore Monday, but I was back to the gym yesterday and this morning. Emotionally, I am a little overwhlemed trying to catch up on everything that got pushed aside in the run-up to the big day. I have lots more to write about the marathon, but I need to take care of a few things (like laundry and the job I actually get paid for) before I do that.

I do want to take a moment, though, to announce the final fundraising total: $3376! Hooray! Honestly, its more than I had hoped for and it will make such a difference in the lives of the students who are given the Kelly Murray scholarships. I can not say thank you enough to everyone who donated!

If you would still like to make a donation, it is never too late! The online fundraising pages are coming down, but you can always write a check to "Loyola University" and send it to:

Annual Giving
Loyola University Maryland
4501 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21210

Be sure to write "Kelly Murray Scholarship Fund" on the memo line of your check!

Also, if you have been inspired to do some fundraising of your own- in honor of Dr. Murray or for another cause- here is how Katie and I did it:

-We created accounts on Active.com (http://www.active.com/). Once we had accounts, we used the fundraising tabs in the "My Active" menu to set up our campaigns. We gave Active the contact info of our charity, they verified that it is legit, and we were good to go! Active processed all of the credit card donations, deducted a service charge, and mailed monthly checks to Loyola. For a small charity, it was a great system.

-We created our blogs on http://www.blogger.com/.

-We set up training logs on Daily Mile (http://www.dailymile.com/). With Daily Mile, we logged our miles (Katie entered hers manually; I synced my Nike+), and then used a widget from the site to send the running total to our blogs.

-We used the "share" functions on Active and Blogger to post our campaign updates and blog posts to Facebook. This was probably the most effective tool for getting the word out. We also did more traditional fundraising: emailing friends and family, putting up flyers at Loyola, speaking to our classes and churches, etc.

That's it! I won't say that it was easy, but it was manageable and totally worth it (much like running a marathon!). So don't be afraid potential marathoners and fundraisers. If we can do it, you can too!

Papers, panic, pasta and prayers.

Hello, friends! I am writing this from my current location under a pile of books and papers. As I may have mentioned before, the week before my marathon of running just happens to include a marathon of homework, church meetings, family stuff and a variety of other distractions. All of this is leaving little time for panic (except about schoolwork) or blogging (boo!).

My toughest assignment is due at 4:15pm today, so I am down to the wire, but I do want to take a minute to say a big thank you to the Noodles and Company in Columbia, MD.  Katie and I had hoped to hold a fundraiser there this week, but all of our work got the better of us and we were not able to pull it together. We were worried that the Noodles people would be angry, but instead they offered us free pasta for our carb-loading week! So, tonight, after Katie and I both turn in this *&%$*# paper, we will be off to Katie's for a pasta party with our awesome running buddies. I can't wait.

While I have nothing else original to offer on the blog today, I had the opportunity yesterday to give a short reflection on my training/fundraising experience before one of my classes. Most of this material is recycled from other blog posts, but I thought I would post it anyway:

Marathon for Murray reflection, 10/27/10

Kelly and Sloane died on a Friday. I didn’t find out about it for a couple of days because I was busy writing a sermon about Mark 5: 21-43.This is the story where Jesus heals a woman who has been suffering hemorrhages for 12 years and also revives Jairus’ young daughter, who has just died. I really struggled with this sermon. Personally, I find the miracle stories difficult because they make me wonder why we don’t see more miracles, and why we see so many good, faithful people suffer and die.


To find a way to talk about the text, I thought about what we mean when we say the word, “miracle,” and I decided that we usually think of miracles as instant, wonderful solutions to our worst problems. Then, I looked back at the Bible story, and I realized that these healings were not instant, wonderful solutions. The people in the stories had to work hard and suffer a long time before their problems were solved. Even then, the solutions they received were quite different than what they originally hoped for.

Ultimately, I wrote:

“I think that the good news of today’s text is that miracles aren’t always simple or immediate, but they do happen. The people in today’s stories have to make long and difficult journeys in order to receive healing, and it might not happen exactly as they want or expect it to. Given a choice, I’m sure that the woman with hemorrhages would not have endured 12 years of sickness and lost everything she had before finding a cure. I’m sure that Jairus would have chosen for his daughter not to get sick and die in the first place. When that moment of healing comes, though, none of that matters. When these people finally feel the healing touch of Jesus, they forget all the struggle and pain, and simply feel awe and gratitude for the miracle they’ve received.”

That Sunday morning, I was getting ready to go and preach this sermon when I turned on the TV and learned that Kelly and Sloane had died. I drove to the church sobbing and I had no idea how I was going to stand behind the pulpit and talk about healing and resurrection. The one thing that got me through it was something that one of my preaching professors in seminary told me. He said that we should always preach the message we most need to hear. The morning that I gave that sermon was the truest expression of that lesson I can imagine. I needed more than anything to believe that healing from the kind of pain so many were experiencing that day could be possible, no matter how long or what form it took.

In the days after Kelly and Sloane died, I thought a lot about what I needed to learn from those losses. I kept coming back to how much Kelly had experienced and accomplished in only 40 years. I was 30 at that time, and I thought about what I would want to do if I knew I only had 10 more years. I decided that I needed to stop holding myself back and push myself to try new things and be as excellent as I knew I could be.

On the anniversary of Kelly and Sloane’s accident, I went to a memorial mass in their honor. Kelly’s husband Sean spoke about how he and his daughters are coping. He admits that they are still struggling, but he said that the thing that gives them hope is learning about all of the ways Kelly and Sloane have impacted and inspired others. I knew exactly what he meant. When I made my resolution to push myself, I was thinking about my personal and professional lives. Running was the furthest thing from my mind. But, as I learned from the Bible story, healing often comes in unexpected ways. I don’t have adequate time or words to explain the blessings that have come into my life since I decided to run this marathon in honor of Kelly. I can only say that it has been transformative, and I don’t know that I would have done it without Kelly and Sloane’s inspiration.

So, I want to leave you with the conclusion of that sermon I gave a little over a year ago. I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t sure I believed it at the time. But I believe it now:

“As we sit here [today], I’m sure that each of us is need of some form of healing, whether from physical disease, mental illness, emotional pain, spiritual emptiness, or any number of other hurts. I’m also sure that, at one time or another, we’ve all wished for a miracle. The good news of this text is that it might not happen immediately or exactly how we want it, but if we persevere, believe, and support one another, our own miraculous moments of healing will come. Sooner or later, our faith will make us well. Amen.”

Mission accomplished!

Its official! I have met my fundraising goal of $2500! When I left work this afternoon, I was still $169 short. When I got home, I saw that one of my most generous friends had donated a second time and then some mysterious, generous stranger donated the remaining $119 I needed to hit the goal. Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone!

Some of you may have intended to donate and not managed to do it yet. Fear not! You can still donate to Katie's campaign (supporting the exact same cause) by going to http://www.active.com/donate/marathonformurray2.

Hooray! The fundraising is done. Now its just the small matter of running 26.2 miles...

Amazing women, part 2.

I am in a period of semi-radio silence here thanks to two major assignments due this Wednesday and Thursday (worst timing ever). I have to take a second, though, to acknowledge the amazing ladies of the United Methodist Women and Women at the Well Groups at my church, St. Andrew's UMC.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how they invited me to their most recent meeting to talk about Dr. Murray and my fundraiser. Since that night, I've been getting notes and cards from various ladies with checks enclosed. To date, I had recieved $165, which I thought was amazing. Then, just this morning, the UMW president came up to me at church and handed me an envelope containing another $300. Unbelievable! So, now I am officially over the $2000 mark and just $279 short of my goal of $2500.

I've been a member of St. Andrew's since before there even was a St. Andrew's. When I was just a baby, the congregation that became St. Andrew's was meeting in the basement of my grandmother's church while our church building was built. My earliest church memories are from that basement, and I can remember when we moved into the building we occupy now. Many of the women who wrote me checks for this fundraiser have been in my life for 10, 15, 20 years or longer. Some of them taught me when I was a child. They are truly my family, and like a good family, they have supported me in just about everything I have ever done.

I have had my ups and downs in how I think about church over the years, but my feelings about these people have never wavered. I really don't know what I would do without them. I will certainly be thinking about them next Sunday and I look forward to sharing this accomplishment with them!

Counting down the days...

I just sent the following message to all my friends and family. The big day is fast approaching- please help in any way you can!

Dear friends-

Its hard to believe, but the Marine Corps Marathon is a mere 13 days away (gulp)! The bulk of my training is done and my practice races are run. All that remains now is two more weeks of "taper" training, the race itself, and one last fundraising push.

I do not have adequate words to explain how much your support has meant to me over the course of my training. There have been some low moments (fatigue, illness, the removal of a minor organ) and the
thought of all of you cheering me on has definitely kept me going.

I am writing one last time to ask for your support in two ways:

1. If you have not already done so, please consider making a donation to the Kelly Murray Scholarship Fund at Loyola. To date, I have raised $1490 toward my goal of $2500, and Katie and I have raised a combined $1940 toward our goal of $5000. This money is going to make a huge difference in the lives of students in the PhD program, which was a real passion of Dr. Murray's.

Through October 31st, you can make a secure online donation at http://www.active.com/donate/marathonformurray. Or, you can send a check made out to Loyola University to:

Annual Giving
Loyola University Maryland
4501 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21210

If you donate by check, be sure to write "Kelly Murray Scholarship Fund" on the memo line, and let me know about it so I can add your donation to my total.

2. If you live in or near DC, come to the race! Spectator info is available at http://www.marinemarathon.com/race_info/spectators.htm. The race starts at 8am, and I expect to finish somewhere between 1 and 1:45pm. My bib number is 20398. After the race, I will be meeting family in the "B" family meetup area at the Finish Festival, so that's a good place to look for me. If you are planning to come, let me know so I can look for you, though I may leave my memory and abilty to think clearly on the race course!

Once again, I can't thank you enough for all of your love and support!

Take care,
Alicia

Some amazing women, and a reminder to watch what you say.

I am still battling my annual fall cold, as well as a poorly-timed deluge of school work, but I dragged myself out of the house last night to visit some amazing ladies from my church. All United Methodist churches are supposed to have a chapter of a group called United Methodist Women. My church had a very active group when I was young, but it fizzled out many years ago. Then, just a little over a year ago, some terrific women got it going again. Now, a group of 20-40 women gets together every month for wonderful social and outreach activities. My crazy schedule prevents me from going as much as I would like, but I get there when I can, and I never regret it. They are such a fun, energetic, interesting, and spirited group!

Last night, the UMW generously took up a collection in support of my marathon fundraiser. Not only is this wonderfully supportive to me, it also really honors Dr. Murray. Dr. Murray was all about women coming together and pushing one another to do amazing things. One of her pet projects was a summer camp called GirlsUp, where pre-teen girls build self-confidence, leadership skills, and citizenship. Fortunately, the camp has been able to continue since Dr. Murray died, and you can learn more about it at http://girlsup.org/.

Speaking of amazing and supportive women, I got an update from Val earlier today. Unfortunately, its not good news. She has a sprained ankle, needs PT, and may not be able to run the marathon. Please send her prayers, positive vibes, healing energy, and whatever else you can muster! I know how badly she wants to run this race, and I frankly can not imagine doing it without her.

Val's situation is where "watch what you say" comes into play. For the past several weeks of training, I've told numerous audiences that I'm not sure I'll ever run another marathon. I love running, but the long distances and training time are really wearing on me. In fact, I told several of the ladies at UMW last night that this marathon may be my one and only. That was an okay plan when I knew I would be doing it with Val. Now, I know that I can't train with Val all these months and not run a marathon with her. So, if Val isn't able to do MCM, it looks like I'm in for another one. Next time, I'll keep my thoughts to myself!

A grand day!

Thanks to the generosity of many of you, my fundraising numbers just surpassed $1000! Yay! As of today, Katie and I have a combined total of $1535, and we need $3465 to reach our goal. Thanks, and keep it coming!

Some other important numbers.

A few minutes ago, I wrote about my race number, 20398. Here are a few more important numbers:

7- On Sunday, that will be the number of weeks left until the race.

$1295.00- That's how much Katie and I have raised, combined, to date for the Kelly Murray Scholarship Fund at Loyola.

$5000.00- That's how much Katie and I would like to raise by the marathon on Oct. 31.

$3705.00- That's how much more we need to raise to reach our goal. 

If you have been meaning to donate, but haven't done it yet, there's no time like the present! All you have to do is visit http://www.active.com/donate/marathonformurray (my site) or http://www.active.com/donate/marathonformurray2 (Katie's site). If you would prefer to mail a check, email me and I'll tell you how (aliciakimbrooks@gmail.com).

You can also help by telling friends and family about this fundraiser, especially people connected to Dr. Murray and/or Loyola.

I haven't even run the race yet, and this marathon has already changed my life in many ways. Please help Katie and I use this experience to change the lives of some deserving students as well!

Jock Jam Annapolis! (and some updates)

Katie and I have a little under 12 weeks left to fundraise, so its time to get creative! Katie has started a great Facebook initiative with different slogans for every day: $10 Tuesday, Whatever You Can Wednesday, and $5 Friday, just to name a few. We are working with the lovely people at Loyola to plan Fall email blasts and a pre-race pasta dinner. And on Sunday, August 29th, I will be hosting Jock Jam Annapolis, the first of two theme parties (to be followed by Jock Jam Baltimore). If you read this blog, you are almost certainly a friend of mine or Katie's. Therefore, you are invited! Here are the details:


Date: Sunday, August 29th
Time: 2pm-7pm (drop in anytime)
Location: My house in the Eastport neighborhood of Annapolis (contact me for the address)
Suggested Donation: $5-$10. Donations of food or drinks are also appreciated.
Dress: Wear your favorite athletic clothes- bonus points for retro (see above).
What You Get: Athletic-themed food and drinks (think "Jock-amole"); totally optional (but fun) games; jock jams; fun people. Fellow runners who are doing the A10 that morning will get comfy chairs and cold drinks.

I hope you can come (and bring friends!). Email me at aliciakimbrooks@gmail.com if you need further info.

Now, on to updates!

My pulled ab muscle seems to (finally) be getting better. I've cautiously done some ab moves in Group Power this week and haven't felt anything rip. I think I'm going to go back to boot camp tomorrow (aka: where I think I got hurt in the first place), take it easy, and see how it goes.

Last Saturday, Val and I did our first-ever 16-mile run with the Striders. We were blessed with vastly improved weather and felt great for the first 10-11 miles. After that, it got hard fast. There were a lot of walking and stretching breaks in miles 12-14, and then we picked it up again at 15 because we both wanted to be done. All in all, it went fairly well, but I am definitely feeling wary of the 18-miler we're scheduled for this coming Saturday.

After the Saturday run, I had to rush home and get ready to drive to NJ, where I was scheduled to speak at a Catholic church on behalf of the St. Vincent Pallotti Center (aka: my day job). Traffic was a nightmare, so even though I left an extra 90 minutes, I was still late for my first mass at 5pm. Around 4:15 (when I already knew I was going to be late), I decided that I absolutely had to make a rest stop. Thank goodness I did! After being stuck in the same position for 4+ hours, my legs were not happy. When I got out of the car, I could barely walk. Fortunately, a brief walk around the rest stop got rid of some of the stiffness and I was able to walk to the pulpit when I arrived at the church. Lesson: if you can avoid it, do not drive a long distance right after a long run!

Speaking of my NJ trip, I was hosted by a lovely and gracious group of priests. After the Saturday mass, the senior pastor invited me to join him as he took his newly-ordained associate priest out for a birthday dinner, along with another new priest from a neighboring parish and priest #2's visiting sister. We went to a very upscale Italian restaurant where the priest ordered us a decadent dinner accompanied by a lot of excellent wine. From my Methodist point of view, its always surprising to see a pastor drinking and entertaining in such a lavish way. Still, it was touching to see how the senior pastor cared for the younger priests. He also knew every waiter in the restaurant by name and asked about their families and recent developments in their lives. Spending time with him reminded me of spending time with my own pastor, Dave. While Pastor Dave prefers the local diner to 5-star restaurants, he also seems to know and care about every person he meets in our community. I know its not easy to go out into the world as a clergy person; when you wear a clerical collar, you get a lot of attention (both wanted and unwanted). Its awesome to see clergy members taking that challenge as an opportunity and truly reaching out to the people around them.

That's all for now! I'm sure I'll have plenty to share after the 18-miler...

Feel-good story of the day (and other news).

Today's New York Times features a great story about a man who recovered from open-heart surgery and then challenged his heart surgeon to do a triathlon with him. You can read it at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/sports/19racers.html. This story really spoke to me because this marathon experience has brought so many new people into my life and deepened my relationship with others in ways I never would have imagined. When I was taking classes from Dr. Murray in 2007 and 2008, I knew that she inspired me to push myself, but I never imagined that her example would push me into something like this!

Its been a very busy few days, so here are some highlights:

I made it back to boot camp this past Thursday. As usual, our awesome instructor Kate took us for a run outside and mixed it with a series of drills. As an added bonus, she set her watch alarm to go off every 5 minutes. Whenever it went off, we stopped wherever we happened to be and did 20 pushups followed by 20 mountain-climbers. During the class itself, I thought that the mountain-climbers were the easy part (relatively speaking). Then, my alarm went off Friday morning and I realized I couldn't sit up. My lower abs have been sore ever since. Doing anything in plank position is virtually impossible and anything involving sitting up is extra-difficult. (Note to self: work on lower abs!)

On Friday afternoon, I had lunch with my fabulous fundraising/training partner Katie Cashin. We made plans to distribute our newly-printed business cards (ask me for one!) and for our fundraising party series, Jock Jam Annapolis and Jock Jam Baltimore. More about that soon. That night, I went to see a show by my friends' amazing band, the Pushovers. You should check them out immediately at http://www.thepushoversband.com/. 1/3 of the band is my friend Nancy, who has wanted to be a musician throughout the many years I've known her and, over the past few years, has really made it happen. I could not be more proud of her!

On Saturday morning, I ran the John Wall 1-mile race with the Annapolis Striders. I haven't raced a mile since the Presidential physical fitness test my freshman year in high school, but somehow I remember that I did that in around 9 minutes. So, that was the only benchmark I had to go on. I put myself in the 8:30-9:30 heat and hoped I wouldn't come in last. I finished in 8:27, 18/23 people in my heat (clearly, I was not the only one guessing at which heat to be in). Not bad, but I think I could do much better with a little speed work. (Note to self: do speedwork!)

On Saturday afternoon, my family and I celebrated the 3rd birthday of my niece Greta (see post below) and then I came home and celebrated by return to the world of meat-eating by roasting a chicken:

It tasted even better than it looked. I was bursting with pride. Katie (my roommate) made some delicious light macaroni and cheese from the Rocco DiSpirito cookbook Now Eat This! and we had a terrific dinner.

Sunday morning, Katie and I worked off part of that dinner with a 6.5 mile-run downtown and around the Naval Academy. It was my first long-ish run on a hot day since hurting my ankle, and I can't say I put in a stellar performance, but I always enjoy morning runs in Annapolis. Its nice to run through a downtown that isn't packed with tourists and greet all of the other early-morning runners, fishermen, and crabbers. Katie and I went to church afterward, but we both had a hard time focusing because we were dreaming of the naps we would take when we got home.

Finally, this morning, Katie and I went to the 6am launch of the new Group Power release at my gym. The launch days are always fun- the instructors go all-out with themes, costumes, and prizes and the classes are usually packed. This morning was the first time my regular instructors Bill and Kelly led the launch, and they both did a great job. During the class, I didn't think it was that hard, but I'm already feeling the all-consuming hunger and soreness which tell me I was working harder than I thought.

That's all for now!

I smell like a nursing home, and other updates.

The nursing home smell is thanks to this amazing product. There is no room in my budget for massages right now, so I rely on Icy Hot to deal with my stiff knees and shoulders, and it generally gets the job done. Well worth the persistent nursing home smell. My official marathon training (ie: my training with the Annapolis Striders) starts this weekend, so I really amped up my gym time this week, and I am feeling it. Highlights included doing walking lunges and squats over the Easport bridge (to the amusement of morning commuters) and having a Group Power sub pull out an older release which was truly punishing on the back and shoulders. Today is rest day, for which I am very grateful.

A few things happened on the fundraising front this week. I sent out a mass email to my family and friends which inadvertantly got forwarded to all of Loyola. The problem with this is that, it being my personal message, I didn't say much about my fundraising partner Katie. Fortunately, she was cool about it and even more fortunately, the donations started rolling in! In less than 24 hours, my total went from $285 to $645, which makes my goal of $2500 feel a bit less impossible. Thanks, everyone!

In a less happy accident, I got a package today containing 250 business cards I had made to help Katie and I promote our efforts. When I took them out, I realized that I misspelled, of all words, "scholarship." D'oh! That's what happens when you spend so much time tweaking a proof that you stop really reading it.

Finally, I went to a memorial mass tonight marking the anniversary of Kelly and Sloane's deaths. It was a beautiful service, featuring some of Kelly's daughters reading and singing, and Kelly's husband Sean speaking. They are a remarkably resilient family. Fr. Kevin Gillespie from Loyola also spoke and he talked about all of the wonderful things that have been born out of this tragedy, including that very scholarship fund that Katie and I are supporting with our race. Loyola has already raised more than $50,000 and they will announce the first recipients soon. So, please know that your donations are going to help some very deserving students.

Okay, time for bed- 10 miles tomorrow morning!

PC Department Celebrities!

Well, there's no backing out now: Katie and I have made the Loyola Pastoral Counseling Department homepage! Our story is the first item in the "News" section at http://www.loyola.edu/pastoralcounseling. The department has been super-supportive of our efforts, which is really lovely to see. I've been at Loyola for 3 years as a part-time, commuter student, which means that I don't often get to experience any kind of school community. The department's response to Dr. Murray's death, however, showed me just how much community really exists there. The whole department- faculty, staff, and students- have worked so hard to support one another and honor Dr. Murray's legacy. I'm really happy to be able to take part in their efforts.

A few updates on earlier posts:

Donations continue to come in! Many of my friends donated in honor of my birthday, for which I am both touched and grateful. You can donate anytime between now and October 31st by going to http://www.active.com/donate/marathonformurray .

Since my crazy schedule ended, I have been enjoying getting to more early-morning classes at the gym, but I am realizing that the 5:45am spin class is just too early. 6am I can do; 5:45 is too hard. I am also still struggling with afternoon naps which keep me up too late at night. If I come up with any useful remedies for afternoon sleepiness, I'll be sure to share.

The meat-eating experiment continues. Thus far, turkey lunchmeat and grass-fed beef burgers are great, and chicken and bacon are dissapointing. I also feel like my long-held belief that vegetarian food tends to be more flavorful is being confirmed. I won't make a final ruling on that, though, until I eat meat in at least one or two really good restaurants. My hunger has abated a bit, but I don't think I will know if the meat has anything to do with that until I really get into training (which starts at the end of this month). So, the experiment will continue for at least a few months.

That's all for now!

Katie's donation page is up!

We're making progress here. Katie's donation page is now up too: http://www.active.com/donate/marathonformurray2.

So, whenever you like, you can make a donation on either of our pages (mine is linked on the right) and you can even create your own donation page if you're super-motivated. We don't care who collects the money- its all going to the same great cause!

Also, you can follow Katie and her partner Erin in their training by reading their blog at http://ktapeanderrun.blogspot.com.

Donation page is up!

Exciting news! Active.com has approved my fundraising page for Dr. Murray. Starting now, anyone can visit http://www.active.com/donate/marathonformurray and make a donation to the Kelly Murray Scholarship Fund at Loyola University Maryland. (Just so you know, Active will take a portion of your donation as a fee for processing the credit card transactions.) You can also forward the page to others, or even start your own page for the campaign.

Over the next several months, Katie and I will send out lots more information and plan an event or two as part of our campaign, so stay tuned.

Thanks for your help and support!

Finishing for Kelly

This is Dr. Kelly Murray, one of my favorite professors in the Pastoral Counseling department at Loyola University, MD. She died on June 26, 2009 when a sudden summer storm caused a tree to fall on the minivan she was driving. Her 7 year-old daughter Sloane died as well. Kelly left behind a husband, five other daughters, and an amazing personal and professional legacy.

I met Kelly for the first time on the first day of my first class at Loyola, Helping Relationship, in Fall 2007. Kelly walked into the room and I was instantly impressed by her energy, confidence, humor, and great style. When she told us about her professional background, I was even more impressed. At that point, Kelly was only in her late 30's and she had already taught at the Naval Academy and received tenure at Loyola. She was also maintaining a private practice, writing books, and working as a consultant for groups that ranged from the White House crisis unit to Lifetime TV. When Kelly mentioned that she had a husband and 5 (at that time) daughters under the age of 12, I went from impressed to amazed. I clearly remember thinking "I don't know what this woman can teach me about counseling, but she can certainly teach me something about life."

I was lucky enough to have Kelly twice that year, moving from Helping Relationship in the Fall to Psychopathology in the Spring. I quickly learned that Kelly had a lot to teach me about counseling and about life. Not only could Kelly juggle being a professional, a wife, and a mother, she could also juggle different roles as a teacher and a therapist. She was tough, but fair. Serious, but fun. Innovative, but grounded in traditional practices. Exceptional, but always down to earth.

Kelly had a joy and an enthusiasm that could not be contained. At the beginning of the Spring semester, she announced that she was pregnant with her 6th child. She and her husband had decided not to learn the baby's sex, but Kelly was always confident that baby #6 would be a girl. As she explained it, "That's what my husband and I do. We have girls." I imagine that most people would be a bit daunted by the thought of adding another member to a family of 7, but Kelly never seemed anything other than thrilled about it. She often shared stories of her girls in class, which made me realize that she had so many kids because she simply loved being a mom. She loved being a mom, she loved being a wife, she loved being a therapist, and she loved being a teacher. Kelly was able to be excellent in everything she did because she only did things that she loved.

As if Kelly didn't have enough to occupy her time, she was also an avid runner. She ran on her own and she also incorporated running into some of her counseling work. I learned at one of Kelly's memorial services that she had planned to run a marathon, but had to stop training when she got pregnant with her youngest daughter. So, in honor of Kelly, one of my PC classmates and I are attempting to finish her marathon for her. On October 31, Katie Cashin and I will run the Marine Corps Marathon. Katie and I are both first-time marathoners and we are hoping to use our training to raise money for the Kelly Murray Scholarship Fund, which will support doctoral students at Loyola. We hope you will follow along as we train and help in any way you are able!

More to come on how to support our efforts.