No Sugar Coating

The wife Perspective; are you seeing a theme; later at night I take some time to type words while the Mr tries his best to sleep. This time he didn’t give me a title for this post but did give me permission to be honest. This is hard, the mental side of this is pretty much debilitating Shannon. 

I was told at 3:50 am that this was done, he was DONE, he couldn’t keep doing this; he really isn’t sleeping and he’s eating less then my two year old niece. So as you can imagine this isn’t a good combination to continue pounding the pavement for hundreds of miles. So at that wee hour of the morning I prayed over him, proclaiming that the spirits of fear, anxiety and whatever else need to take a hike. I was also frantically texting a few people for prayer support. 

Did I warn you this was going to be a real deal post and it probably won’t be short?  *WARNING*

After much discussion Shannon agreed to try; praise be. He tackled 5miles; hence why you got a little morning video today. 

Also note; this is my perspective so Shannon may very well disagree with some things I say or how I remember the day. Overall it sucked, but had some bright spots. 

After his first run of the day I promised him he could sleep as long as he wanted and well not lots of sleeping occurred because his brain is fighting a battle. Eventually he was so restless I suggested we get some fresh air and walk the dead end road We were parked on. He figured if he was walking why not try a mile on the T-Can, praise be again. So in total he did 3 miles; and got us to the point we could park at a Petro station just east of Griswold. 

While parked at the gas station the wind most certainly picked up and at times it felt like Fleetwood may tip over. Okay if that happened then yes I’d let this adventure wrap BUT I believe Shannon can do this and I am NOT letting him throw in the towel. I was doing a lot of texting with people who were praying, sending encouragement, all the while tears streamed down my face. If you don’t know me well I’m a fixer, get it done type of girl and well, I was at a complete loss (still am). I can’t fix Shannon’s mental state; I can love on him, listen, help try to get him to see reality, but I can’t fix this horrible situation that has occurred. 

While Shannon tried to calm his brain and get some rest I was in conversation with some fabulous family; Greg & Tanya. Oh hello, let me back up this 31’ RV... during Shannon’s first run of the day Greg told me that he could give Shannon a call, so that’s just what happened. When Shannon had already ran 5 km and started to walk the rest, my cell rang which I promptly put on speaker phone and told Shannon it was for him. Of course he wasn’t impressed but once he realized it was Greg, someone he respects greatly, he started chatting and I really believe it was a boost for him. Okay now back to the storyline. Through text (unbeknownst to Shannon)Greg told me that he and the fam were leaving Steinbach at 11am and coming to us. Be still my weeping heart for the love of family. So around 3pm there was a knock on the door and I needed to wake Shannon, as I hadn’t told him guests were on the way. Trying to keep the anxiety to a minimum. Well, Shannon agreed to get dressed to hit the pavement and off he and Greg went; 6 + miles while Tanya, Isaiah and I hung out in the RV and played games till we got notified it was time to move the caravan

and meet the guys. 

We let Shannon try and sleep after that run,  while the rest of us enjoyed the RV comforts and then 1.5hrs later it was time to encourage Shannon to lace up again and give the pavement some time. 6 miles later we again picked up the boys; this time marking the highway with spray paint so we know where to return to tomorrow morning to start again. Hope there is an again. 

End of the day

Shannon has dozed some today, eaten a bit and we even got a few smiles. I can’t describe how hard today has been without crying BUT I am forever grateful for family who treks across Manitoba to support us, love us and literally cheer us on. I even got to showcase my RV driving skills and got to give my nephew a ride; yes he is buckled in, it’s just so much cooler riding in an RV, because you can sit at the table while traveling. 

I’m sure I’ve missed something but that’s all this tired brain can think of or write coherently at this time. No sugar coating.
Side note; I’m getting pretty good at this RV thing. Emptied the grey water with the assist from Tanya & Isaiah on how to hook up the pipes and tonight at the campground I got the dark tank emptied. Yup. I’m doing this.