Blown Away...

Blown away is my term of the week. I am so very blessed to have friends that are rooting for me and concerned for my health. I want to share a story about one of my good friends and his great big heart.

As my journey to lose weight…err…change my life began earlier, I was visiting with good friend George Flickinger about the weather. George is one of the meteorologists at KJRH-channel 2 in Tulsa. It was earlier this month that I spoke of getting out and walking and changing my diet in order to lose weight. George was genuinely interested in this and wanted to help. I said sure, I could use a friend, trainer and accountability partner. To my delight, he told me that he could and would do that. Now, granted, George is not a formal trainer, but he is fit and very healthy and loves bicycling. George said that he wanted to walk with me during my lunchtime at work. There is a walking track less that a mile from my workplace that I have had my eye on for some time. We discussed back and forth ways for me to get in shape. Walking is excellent and that’s where we started.

My first walk at the track was solo. I was too embarrassed to have anybody walk with me but I made it around the track-barely. It is almost 1.5 miles around the track and you have to realize that I have been almost completely sedentary for many years. A couple of days later George met me at the track. We walked while he talked and I panted. I jokingly raised the idea of bicycling after reading about a man’s journey on a bike. His starting weight was in the fives! George said I have a bike for you, Jeff. I was shocked. I asked him if he thought it was heavy-duty enough for me and he said that he would take it to the bike shop to let them have a look at it. I was like, you would do that for me?? He said that he would love to.

Now for the blown away part……
During another conversation, I asked where the bike came from. I noticed that George was a tad hesitant on answering me. He slowly told me the story of how he got the bike. I could sense the emotion as he told me how he had acquired the bike. Read about George’s bicycle story below...

CANNONDALE STORY

Tears dried up yet? I’ll admit, when I heard of the history associated with the Cannondale and George’s willingness to trust me with this prized possession, I cried too.




I am still in awe at the generosity of this fella named George. I am in awe as well at the countless emails, text messages, Facebook messages, etc. that I have received. You guys rock! I know that I am doing this for myself, but I am motivated by the benefits of a longer life, feeling great, and all of you, my friends. Enjoy these pictures of George, me, and my new bike!!






Oh yeah, almost forgot....I am down to 429 from 455!! Another weigh in tomorrow!