Thank you to the hundreds of friendly folks who showed up on a beautiful Saturday morning in Independence to benefit Sunshine Center by running,walking and cheering. Over the years, this has always been one of the friendliest fun runs around. I've been lucky to hand out awards and make announcements at the Truman 5K for many Mays...and some other runs around town, too. Almost always I am asked two questions: "Hey, you with the icing on your chin, could you, please, get away from the donuts?" and "Why aren't you running with your wife and daughter?"

To answer question number one, I usually pretend I can't hear over the sound of the DJ's music. Similar to the technique President Reagan used when headed for the helicopter...cup one ear, nod, smile and keep moving. I do the same thing now when my kids ask for money or inquire about practicing their driving. In fact, forget about Dr. Spock, I've found that Ronald Reagan is a great role model for raising kids. For example, increasingly, my daughter's room strikes me as something of an evil empire, in need of a little glasnost or openness...at least of the window. She is a delightful person, but my daughter's cleanliness and clutter standards are very different from mine. Once I was dragged out of her room and physically assaulted by the rabid dust bunnies that reside under her bed. As for the Pike's Peak of clothes that pile up in my sons' bathroom, I often announce "Mr. Gorba-teens, tear down this wall...and then take it to the laundry room." When we had three out four still in diapers, I can't tell you how often I said "Well, there you go again...and again...and again."

As for the second question, the truth is that I did actually run in a 5K once. Well, "run" is probably not the right word. Meandered, maybe. My daughter, who won her age group this past Saturday, was quite little but wanted to be in a race like her Mom. So, I agreed to stay with her on the course, so she wouldn't be alone. How hard could that be? The starting horn blasted and we were off. My daughter's little legs were working hard. She actually got to moving at a pretty fair clip. By the half-way point, I was well behind. I tried to slow her down by yelling "Hey, look what I found, a four leaf clover!" and "Did you see that puppy back there?" and "Please, call the paramedics when you reach the finish, sweetheart!"

Eventually, she was just barely in sight and I was bringing up the rear. The volunteers along the race route were very encouraging "Come on...you can do it...good job...way to go...keep it up!" I am pretty sure they thought I was recovering from some sort of surgery and just getting back into the swing of things. The fact is, my baby girl had left me in the dust, not unlike opening her bedroom door, today. (See above.) I didn't go through the chute at the end where they tear off your number. I like getting laughs as much as the next person, but not that way. I just melted into the crowd. I found my wife, who had finished the course about three days earlier, with my daughter. They were laughing about what a great run it had been. I would have argued but they wouldn't have been able to understand me through the oxygen mask, anyway.