September 15, 2017
Our Dear Friends and Family,
Anna is out biking as I write; she will hit West Virginia, today. Anna will have less than 300 miles left to cover after today— out of a 3,000 mile journey! The outdoors community here is fabulous. We are SO close to the Appalachian Trail, which has some of the world’s ultra-athletes. Anna has a friend that is actually finishing the trail right now that we may get to meet up with! I’m so jealous that he got to do that!
Every time I think that I’ve met the limits of athletic capacity, I meet people that blow my expectations away. Today, we talked with a lady whose husband is training to do a 100 mile race of trail running. We’ve been told that here running falls into to communities: trail running is a hippie, barefoot kind of experience, while marathoners are the street runners and structured.
The lady we were talking trail running with is also the Chairman of the Board of the Pregnancy Center in Athens, Ohio. They are doing things WELL: they have created a top tier medical facility, Victorian mother’s wonderland where women can outfit their child for the price of a nice lunch, and a sophisticated looking counseling center. We are so proud that there are such fantastic resources out there for women! The COOLEST part was the wall of success. Pictures of parents with children that were saved because of the center.
We arrived at the pregnancy center after crashing with Hannah House for three nights. The Hanna House mission is to serve the the displaced. They feed 150 people every single Friday— and have been doing so since the nineties. Their property backs up to a National Park; with their equipment for games and outdoor amphitheater, bunking their felt like being at Summer Camp.
All Our Love,
Sarah-Marie Hoduski
Project If Life