Believe it or not, once upon a time I was a runner. At least six miles a day in the morning and sometimes six miles in the evening, just depending on my schedule. Then my knees began giving me problems and doctors suggested I quit running and just walk.
At the time I just quit period, hoping my knees would improve. They didn’t. If you are an avid runner you know that the desire to run is always with you. I wasn’t obsessed with running as some people, but it was something I enjoyed and if I didn’t run, my day did not seem right. It’s kind of like an addiction I think.
Even now, though it has been years since I actually was able to run, when I walk, that desire is there. Now when I try to run, I have shin splits. Something I never experienced when I was running regularly.
For the past few months I have been walking every morning. The urge to run is still with me but when I began walking, I knew that was an impossibility. Just walking a mile was an undertaking for the first week.
The past two weeks I have been able to add some light interval jogging into my daily walk and one day hope to be able to jog a whole mile. I push myself but I also realize my limitations and when an area starts hurting or throbbing, I know to at least slow down.
I don’t expect to ever be able to do 5K’s again, at least not running the whole thing but maybe a combination of the two. One can always dream.
Roxie, our four legged child with fur, goes with me on my morning walks. In fact, if I don’t get up in the morning when she thinks it’s time to walk, she will come into the bedroom, banging her tale on everything possible. If that doesn’t work, she jumps in the bed and whines until I get up.
On our walks she sometimes will run off to chase a squirrel, bird or something else that has caught her attention but she always comes back to where I am. She likes to lead on the walks and will pause every now and then to look back and make sure you are still there.
She is so spoiled rotten  that she doesn’t really ever want to go outside by herself. She thinks David and I are supposed to go with her. When she really has to go out, she will eventually but only after whining a bit and realizing we are not going out.
She has come to think that she is human I think. She has about taken over our bed though some nights, if we move too much, she gets aggravated and will get up and leave or get under the bed acting as if we have bothered her.
There are some nights where she is an attention hog and wants to snuggle. She insists and will whine and it seems like she is actually trying to say something. She loves to have her paws rubbed and she will put one in your hand for you to rub.
Don’t dare leave the car or truck door open as she will jump in and won’t get out until you just force her out. She loves to ride and thinks she should go everywhere we go.
She has come to think that if she puts her head in your lap you understand what she wants but that is not always the case. Sometimes, she wants some of what you are eating, other times she wants to go out and then sometimes we just aren’t sure what she wants.
She does demand attention though and has even been known to knock my phone out of my hand because she thought the phone was getting more attention than she was.
There are times she will sit in the middle of the floor and make noises as if she is trying to talk to you and gets aggravated when you don’t understand. Sometimes I do realize what she wants but other times not.
She loves children and will let them do anything to her. We do have to remind her not to get carried away every now and then as she forgets how big she is.
When you sneeze or cough she thinks something is wrong and will come to you to make sure you are okay. She also doesn’t like it when another dog barks at her owners. It’s okay if they bark at her, but not at her humans.
She may weigh about 55 pounds but that doesn’t stop her from being a lap dog. She quite frequently jumps up in one of our laps and tries to sit. She lays her head in your lap when not trying to sit in your lap.
I never really knew why they cropped Boxer’s tails but I certainly do now. Roxie was too old when we got her to do anything about her tail. Therefore, her tail could be classified as a lethal weapon. She doesn’t know that though, is just wiggling as Boxers do. I blame David for her being so spoiled and of course he blames me. Truth is, it was both of us. She is just like one our family and we wouldn’t change a thing about her.©

VICTORIA SIMMONS is an author, columnist, motivational speaker, consultant, event planner, minister and publisher of The Georgia Post/Byron Buzz. You can reach her at vsimmons54@gmail.com