I have been wanting and waiting to write this post for MONTHS!
Last fall I was working like crazy on a sewing project for my parents. It was a poem called "Why Do I Run?"
My parents used to have a framed beautiful hand-stitched piece of this poem done by my dad's twin sister, Aunt Helen Lee. She was AMAZING at sewing! Cross-stitching was her favorite, and since my parents are both runners, she stitched this poem along with a few little runners in the margins of the work.
It hung for years in my parents Vail condo until one year, during a big renovation, the beautiful framed sewing piece disappeared. It was never found. Aunt Helen Lee died about twelve years ago, and ever since the internet really took off, I often thought, if I could find a copy of this poem, it was a gift I'd like to sew myself and re-create for my parents. I searched for this poem online for YEARS. The only line I could remember was "Why Do I Run? Maybe I'm Crazy."
FINALLY, this past fall, I FOUND the poem on someone's blog, and thus began my fall of sewing, and trying to create my own pattern for sewing a poem. Both Lexie and Lloyd took it upon themselves to help me throughout the process.
I finally got the stitching done in time for Christmas, but I didn't have time to have it framed. So I gave Mom and Daddy the stitchery, and told them a frame was coming. They loved it and immediately recognized the poem as the same one that Aunt Helen Lee had given them 30-plus years ago.
This August is the first time I've seen the finished project -- the framed "Why Do I Run?" poem hanging on the wall right by the door that they use to go out running three times a week. They have assured me that this wall hanging is NOT going out to Colorado where it might disappear like its predecessor.
For anyone who, like I, spend YEARS searching the web for a part of this poem, please enjoy the "Why Do I Run?" poem in its entirety (author unknown):
Why Do I Run?
'Tain't No Mystery --
Wanna Have a Good
Medical History,
Doctor Told Me
Runnin' Is Great --
Helps Them Blood Cells
Circulate,
Great For The Lungs,
Great For The Ticker,
Can't Nothin' Getcha
In Better Shape Quicker,
Feels So Healthy,
Feels So Sweet,
Pumpin' My Arms
And Flappin' My Feet,
Moldin' My Muscles,
Firmin' My Form,
Pantin' Like A Pack Mule,
Sweatin' Up A Storm,
Keeps Me Youthful,
Keeps Me Loose,
Tightens My Tummy,
And Shrinks My Caboose,
Beats Bein' Sluggish,
Beats Bein' Lazy,
Why Do I Run?
Maybe I'm Crazy!
Last fall I was working like crazy on a sewing project for my parents. It was a poem called "Why Do I Run?"
My parents used to have a framed beautiful hand-stitched piece of this poem done by my dad's twin sister, Aunt Helen Lee. She was AMAZING at sewing! Cross-stitching was her favorite, and since my parents are both runners, she stitched this poem along with a few little runners in the margins of the work.
It hung for years in my parents Vail condo until one year, during a big renovation, the beautiful framed sewing piece disappeared. It was never found. Aunt Helen Lee died about twelve years ago, and ever since the internet really took off, I often thought, if I could find a copy of this poem, it was a gift I'd like to sew myself and re-create for my parents. I searched for this poem online for YEARS. The only line I could remember was "Why Do I Run? Maybe I'm Crazy."
FINALLY, this past fall, I FOUND the poem on someone's blog, and thus began my fall of sewing, and trying to create my own pattern for sewing a poem. Both Lexie and Lloyd took it upon themselves to help me throughout the process.
I finally got the stitching done in time for Christmas, but I didn't have time to have it framed. So I gave Mom and Daddy the stitchery, and told them a frame was coming. They loved it and immediately recognized the poem as the same one that Aunt Helen Lee had given them 30-plus years ago.
This August is the first time I've seen the finished project -- the framed "Why Do I Run?" poem hanging on the wall right by the door that they use to go out running three times a week. They have assured me that this wall hanging is NOT going out to Colorado where it might disappear like its predecessor.
For anyone who, like I, spend YEARS searching the web for a part of this poem, please enjoy the "Why Do I Run?" poem in its entirety (author unknown):
Why Do I Run?
'Tain't No Mystery --
Wanna Have a Good
Medical History,
Doctor Told Me
Runnin' Is Great --
Helps Them Blood Cells
Circulate,
Great For The Lungs,
Great For The Ticker,
Can't Nothin' Getcha
In Better Shape Quicker,
Feels So Healthy,
Feels So Sweet,
Pumpin' My Arms
And Flappin' My Feet,
Moldin' My Muscles,
Firmin' My Form,
Pantin' Like A Pack Mule,
Sweatin' Up A Storm,
Keeps Me Youthful,
Keeps Me Loose,
Tightens My Tummy,
And Shrinks My Caboose,
Beats Bein' Sluggish,
Beats Bein' Lazy,
Why Do I Run?
Maybe I'm Crazy!
My roommate had a poster with this poem in college...thank you for posting this, I have been looking for the words to this!!
ReplyDeleteI first saw this poem on a poster in the podiatrist's office in the late 1979's. I, too, have looked for it on the internet multiple times with no luck. Thank you for ending my search and thank you for sharing your cool story. Mike
ReplyDeleteI was a runner all my years in school. This poem hung in our little “ game room” filled with board games and a ping pong table throughout my childhood. I am 52 years old now and don’t know what happened to it. I remember memorizing it as a child but my memory has faded so couldn’t remember the entire poem. Today is April 13, 2024 and my 20 year old son is running his first half marathon and I just thought I would search the internet to try to find it. I can’t believe I did. Thank you .
ReplyDelete