Gold Star spouse, Sarah Leach, Reflects on Finding “wear blue: run to remember”
(Guest column by Sarah Leach, orig. wear blue:run to remember, Feb. 15, 2015)
June 26, 2012 is a day I will never forget. Two Soldiers arrived at our house to notify me that my Husband, SSG Matthew Leach, wouldn’t be coming home from Afghanistan. That was the day my life changed forever.
Later that night I called Matt’s best friend and brother in arms, Jim Madden, to tell him the devastating news. He packed his family up and drove to Michigan from Fort Bragg, NC the very next day. I was still in shock. I didn’t want to do anything and I wouldn’t have even gotten out of bed if I didn’t have our son, Jack, to take care of. Luckily, Jim was there. Jim pushed me to get out and run even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. Running helped me to get back into a routine and to do something good for myself, which in the long run, would be good for my son.
Matt was a very active, fun, and adventurous guy. Unfortunately, our son Jack was only 6 months old when he died and he didn’t get to experience that side of his father. Being a single mother I feel it’s important to honor Matt and give Jack all of the experiences his father would have wanted him to have. One of those experiences is the joy of running.
I was so happy to find a wear blue: run to remember group in my area. The leader, Danielle Joyce, and the rest of the team made my son and I feel very welcome. Since joining the wear blue group I completed my first half marathon. I never thought I would be able to run 13.1 miles in my life. The morning before the race, we met for a circle of remembrance before and read off the names of the fallen service members. I kept their names in my pocket to push me through when I wanted to quit. I didn’t quit and I am happy to say I signed up for my next half marathon.
I am proud to wear blue For the Fallen, For the Fighting, For the Families.
wear blue: run to remember is a national nonprofit running community that honors the service and sacrifice of the American Military. wear blue: run to remember creates a support network for military members and their families; it bridges the gap between military and civilian communities and it creates a living memorial for our country’s fallen military members. wear blue: run to remember exists for the fallen, for the fighting and for the families.
Weekly, wear blue athletes meet to honor the fallen and train for endurance events. At the start of their runs, the name of each military member killed on that weekend over the last thirteen years of war is called out in a Circle of Remembrance. Then, wear blue runners call out the names of those for whom they personally run – their husbands, wives, parents, siblings, battle buddies, neighbors and/or friends. At official wear blue events, American flags are lined along the race course to honor the fallen, a tribute called the wear blue Mile; each flag is hand-held making it a true living memorial. Placed in front of these flags are large posters with photographs of the Fallen. The wear blue Mile humanizes the ultimate sacrifice made by these American heroes.
In Michigan the wear blue: run to remember group is based in Sterling Heights. Their organizer is Danielle Joyce (dbowman101879@gmail.com), and their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/SterlingHeightsMeetUp/.
Learn more about wear blue at www.wearblueruntoremember.org.
NOTE: This story was originally published at http://www.wearblueruntoremember.org/blog/archives/01-2015, and is republished with permission from the website and the author.