A week after my mother’s passing, I found myself puzzled with how to go on with life. When a friend emailed me about a race supporting cancer research, I initially ignored it. It seemed too close to the heart, as cancer was the very disease that had taken my mother away from me. But something about my friend’s words — “I can help organize the whole thing” — stuck with me. I felt I ought to agree.

In the weeks that followed, I gradually re-entered the world of the living. Monitoring our team’s website became a daily routine, and with each donation, a sense of pride welled up in me. I knew my mom would have wanted it that way. She was the type who never got defeated. It was this very spirit that helped me get by.

When the race ended, I noticed the runners all had one thing in common: There were big smiles on their faces. They made it look so rewarding and effortless. I wanted in. So I enrolled (报名) in another race two months later. Considering I could barely run a mile, it was truly challenging. But my friend and I made a training plan so I wouldn’t come in last. I followed it seriously and didn’t let anything get in my way.

Running up and down the city’s hills, I was flooded with memories. I had lived there after college and my mother had visited often. I passed Bloomingdale’s, recalling the time she and I had gotten into a screaming argument there. I was about to beat myself up when I remembered what Mom had said after her diagnosis (诊断) of cancer.” I don’t want you to feel guilty about anything.” Her paper-thin hands had held me tightly. A weight lifted from my shoulders. When the race day arrived, I gave it my all for my mom and for all she had taught me and continued to teach me. As I ran, whenever I felt like slowing down, I pictured her cheering me on.

Crossing the finish line, I felt enveloped in her love and a profound sense of peace.

Frank looked at us and said, “My Dad was a fisherman. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled like the ocean. He would wear his old canvas(帆布), foul-weather coat and his overalls(围裙). No matter how much my Mother washed them, they would still smell of the sea and of fish.”

His voice dropped a bit. “When the weather was bad he would drive me to school. He had an old truck which was older than he was. You could hear it coming for blocks(街区). As he drove toward the school, I would shrink down into the seat hoping to disappear. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here, I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me goodbye!”

He paused and then went on, “I remember the day I decided I was too old for a goodbye kiss. When we got to the school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, ‘No, Dad. I’m too old for a goodbye kiss. I'm too old for any kind of kiss.”

“My Dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him cry. He turned and looked out the windshield (挡风玻璃). ‘You're right,’he said. ‘You are a big boy....a man. I won't kiss you anymore.”

Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his eyes, as he spoke.“It wasn't long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back. It was a day when most of the fleet(捕鱼船队) stayed in, but not Dad. He had a big family to feed. They found his boat adrift with its nets half in and half out. He must have gotten into a gale (狂风) and was trying to save the nets and the floats.”

Since their beautiful baby daughter Ella came into their lives, James and Ola Jordan's home has undergone a transformation in the past nine months. The designer marble coffee table has lost pride of place to a playpen. "Everything is about Ella, and that is how we always wanted it to be," says adoring mum Ola. "Our home was quite stylish before she came along; now there are toys everywhere. I can't remember the life we had without her. Ella has taken over our home —and our hearts."

The former Strictly Come Dancing professionals, who married in 2002, had longed to be parents and considered themselves blessed when Ella was born during the outbreak of coronavirus after their years of medical treatment and attempts. James tells us: "People say how this time of year becomes special again when you see it through the eyes of a child. I get that. Already she loves the Christmas lights and the tree, although she isn't going to understand what it's all about.”

There is no doubt that Ella is the couple's most precious gift ---and the icing on Christmas cake for James will be the moment she says "Dada". "We all keep saying it to her, she is not having any of it," laughs 43-year-old James. "It's just 'Mama, Mama... '"says Jam: “Ola knew that I would always be a big part of bringing up our little girl. And likewise, I always knew Ola was going to be a great mum, and very hands on."

Having James around so much has been a bonus for Ola, four years younger than James. "It has just been us and our baby so I feel lucky that James has been here. But I have missed not being able to meet up with other new mums and swap advice." "Ella is yet to meet another baby, and we will arrange another room for the new family member," says James. “but at least she is lucky that she has a really funny dad. She is always laughing and is such a happy little girl."