My grandfather was a rigid perfectionist. Everything had to be orderly, precise and punctual. I was frightened of him until the day he died. Growing up, my mother desperately wanted to please him. She probably thought he might leave if she didn’t.

In fact, I now think the fear of being left alone, abandoned, was a current throughout much of her life. A few years into my father suffering from Alzheimer, my mother’s voice on the phone sounded so upset that I had to tell her, “Just be with yourself for a little while.”

“No, I can’t do that. I don’t want to do that,” she said abruptly, closing the door on the subject. A while after my father died, she told me that she kept the television on all the time because it made her feel less lonely. “It makes the house seem more lived in,” she said. I had given in to my annoyance and either turned the volume down or turned it off. But after she told me that it filled in some of the loneliness, I never reached for the remote again.

We have had a long journey together, she and I. Over a half-century of memories, now that the journey has ended, I have a choice which ones to study which ones to turn over in my hands and dust off.

I choose to look at the ones that ache with a sweet truth not told often enough: there was love between us. It was just hard to find sometimes. I choose to remember her face on that winter day in Manhattan, when I came to her with a broken heart. I choose to remember walking on the shore with her in summers when we rented a beach house; somehow the sea always transformed us. And how she looked on my wedding day when she handed me a bracelet that had belonged to my grandmother. “Something old,” she said.

One night, Pilar was in a deep sleep when she was woken by her cat Inti. Inti was meowing wildly outside Pilar's bedroom and throwing himself against the closed bedroom door.When Pilar opened her eyes, she saw that her bedroom was filled with smoke. As she escaped her house with Inti in her arms, she saw that a fire was burning in her kitchen. Pilar could easily have lost her life,but Inti would not let that happen. Even though Inti could have escaped the house through a cat door, he wouldn't leave Pilar.

As amazing as this story is, it is not as uncommon as you may think. Take the example of Charlotte Lee and her horse,Thunder. One summer night, the whole family was asleep with the windows open. It was normally very quiet where they lived. Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Charlotte woke up from her sweet dream, and the noise continued. Then she heard a horse running fast towards the house. The next thing she saw was Thunder standing outside her window, neighing and shaking his head. She knew something was wrong. Charlotte quickly got everyone out of the house before the earthquake hit. Thunder has saved her life.

There are also stories of wild animals coming to the rescue of humans. One animal known to be a friend of humans is the dolphin. Once, Todd Endris was surfing with his friends when he was attacked by a 13-foot (4-metre) shark. In the middle of the attack, a group of dolphins came to his rescue by forming a protective ring around Endris until he could get safely to the shore. Without the help of the dolphins, there is little chance that Todd could have escaped.

No one is sure why animals have so often come to our rescue. However, it is clear that humans and animals enjoy a close relationship. It is important that we care for them as much as we can.

I spend 99 percent of my time writing about others. However, so many people have encouraged me to turn the tables and write about my own running journey, that I’ve decided to try “first person” for once.

Sunday, November 11, 2018 will forever be a treasured memory. It was a near-perfect first-time marathon experience. The weather was perfect and the sun was shining, but more than that, I truly felt the love of family and friends the whole day.

For more than a year, my goal was to run my first marathon before the age of 50. But my long term goal is to stay healthy enough to continue running the rest of my life. I had all but given up on the possibility of ever running again, after cracking(断裂) my kneecap at the age of 16. I tried to get back into running in my 20’s and 30’s, and finally five years ago at the age of 44 thanks to yoga, ballet & Pilates cross training, I was strong enough! I can’t imagine “not running” ever again, now that I’ve rediscovered it. Running inspires and challenges me, and in return, I hope my story inspires others. It’s never “too late” to do anything you set your mind to do.

Some of the runs I cherish the most take place with my daughters, when they are home from college or work, or when I can join them for a run where they live. How many teenage “kids” actually WANT to be seen in public with their mom, let alone be seen running with her? We have done lots of 5Ks together and they are some of my favorite races. Every run over the past year formed a building block for the marathon, and my journey has introduced me to many special people, including my beloved ones.