Today I decided to take a leap of faith and run pretty extensively across the 31st street bridge and down the trail leading to the Pittsburgh Pirate's Stadium. Ultimately, I landed in the northside right in front of my brother's apartment. It was the most picturesque late morning with blue skies and no clouds. the air felt crisp and smelled clean as I trodded along the paths-leaves just starting to change a bit of colors-many blowing past me. I ran without pain but into the world of autumn which if I'm being honest-is my absolute favorite season but the one that runs by so quickly sometimes you have a hard time catching it. And for once instead of thinking about school or my students or my latest lesson plan or an assignment that didn't work, I thought about the people. I thought about the people I was passing and the people that were smiling as I ran down the trail. I thought about the sun on my shoulders that appeared to be running beside me. 

 And just as I was grinning from ear to ear, I passed a church with purple doors a block away from my brother's apartment, and I thought it odd that a church service would be going on at 12:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday. However, as I was passing by, my head turned and I caught a glimpse of many people and at the end of the long aisle it looked to be a casket with a bow wrapped tightly around it. And I thought to myself on this perfect day, how could I be smiling through fall while behind doors others were crying as the leaves continued to drift around us. 

And as my smile faded, and I became more pensive in the last bit of my running journey, I said a silent prayer to those in that purple church but I also made a small promise to myself-that as long as I could this October, I would remember to embrace all those autumn moments and carefully watch those leaves drift into the lives of happiness and sorrow but ultimately hope and love.