10 Miles for the O'Neils!

When I was younger, the O'Neils got a lot of facetime with me. I was best buds with their daughter, Shannon, so I was at their house a least a couple of times a week when we were about 5. At least that is how it seems in retrospect. Of course their tree house also seemed like it was larger than my actual house at the time. So my memory may be less than perfect regarding this.

I think this is accurate though

But I do remember tons of trips to the mini-mart with Susan and Shannon, and playing with their dog Rudy. It took me a very long time to realize that this dog was named after Rudy Ruettiger... and not Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Which is funny, considering I ended up at Notre Dame... geez, I'm brilliant. Also, the O'Neils hailed from a far-off land called Massachusetts, and really liked Boston sports teams, which made no sense to me. I guess I pulled a reverse-O'Neil move when I moved up there...

But... the Phillies...

I also spent a lot of time with most of the family during our participation with the Laymen Playmen. Yes, my friends, I was actively involved in musical theater in my pre-college years. The main difference between myself and the O'Neils was that they had pretty legit roles, and I was consistently placed away from microphones. All for the best I think. Patrick was a great Captain Von Trapp (although I think my favorite character for him was Abel Frake in State Fair... specifically in the scene when he celebrates his pig winning first prize... but I digress). Anyway, this family has some talent... And this is what happens when people hear me sing:

I do it anyway though

Now, similar to the Kratz family, the O'Neils have gotten into running, and do the same bootcamp as my parents. In fact, the last time I saw Patrick was running trails on Thanksgiving with the group! And, according to my mother, Patrick, Susan, and both their daughters did the Broad Street Run this year, which is awesome! Maybe someday we can arrange a Kratz-O'Neil race? Ragnar PA, anyone?

Today, I very gladly ran 10 miles for the O'Neils. I decided to do an out and back, and was disappointed at how small these towns are. I ran past my old house. I ran past my church (well I was still about a block away). I ran past the water ice place that my dad used to take my softball team to. And then I finally hit 5 miles and turned around. It was kind of hot, but it was nice to see some of my old stomping grounds, since this was for some old friends!

So thank you, Patrick and Susan, for the donation, all of the amazing times growing up! 

Hopefully I'll catch up with you guys when I'm back in August! If not... I think you'll have to make a trip to Boston...

-Nattles