A speaker at a TEDx event in Traverse City said that the average child from his African homeland walked to school 10 miles. After I heard this fact, I couldn’t help but think of Steph and I walking to school with our two young boys. Colebrook, a kindergartener and Hawthorn, a preschooler. A couple weeks later, I woke my family up at 5:30 am and out the door we headed the 7 and 1/2 miles to Glen Lake Community Schools.
Daddy says a week later, “Phew, what an adventure. I was so nervous all that night before. I thought it would take 2 or 3 hours. It took double. But it was so worth it. We finished at lunch hour. There were 7 teachers and staff in the office when we signed in. Colebrook had them enthralled telling them about his walk. He was just shining and so happy. Everyone was laughing and I was relieved to see him laughing because he was really mad at me just an hour ago. While he was talking, his teacher came in, and when my boy told her what he just did, she was so shocked she blurted out, “Why?” and “Wow” at the same time. It was so funny. And as people have found about about our odyssey, that’s is about everyone’s reaction– with some people leaning more on the “why”, some more on the “Wow”. As for me, I did it because I really knew it would leave me slightly in “awe” if we walked all the way to school… and it has.”
