Written by Api Sulistyo

June 4, 2020

“Megan, do you want to run a few miles?” I asked my daughter who was reading on the couch in our living room.

“Today? How far?” she replied.

“What about five miles?” I was testing her reaction.

“What about 5k? I haven’t run in a long time.” She reasoned while massaging her hip.

“Ok. Let’s leave in one hour.” I confirmed it with her. I was thinking of running along the Minnesota river. The start of the run is very close to our house, right under the Cedar Bridge in Eagan. I ran with Megan in the past and most of the time she was stronger and faster than me. I was confident that I would be able to convince her to complete five-mile run/jog.

It has been a wonderful five weeks having our oldest daughter Megan and her boyfriend, Rob, with us in Eagan. She shared her experience driving 18 hours from Park City, UT to our home in Eagan, MN. They live in Portland, OR and were staying with Rob’s parents for a few weeks prior to their trip to Minnesota. Now, the time has come for them to return to Portland, stopping in Utah on the way back. They will leave this Saturday morning for their first 18-hour lag of the drive.

We parked our car under the Cedar Bridge. The run was extra fun because we brought our dog, Zona, with us. My wife, Tami, called us the Zona Team. Megan and Rob have been thinking about getting their own dog. It was a hot day, but it did not stop us from running.

“We just passed two miles Megan. Do you want to continue running or do you want to go back?” I showed my Garmin watch to her. “What if we slowly reach 2.5 miles and turn back?” I continued before she had the chance to answer. “Yes. That will be fine” she firmly responded. On the way back we briefly stopped at an overlook and let Zona off his leash to drink from the lake.

Towards the end of our run I told Megan, “Thank you for staying with us for the last few weeks. I want you and Rob to stay longer but I understand that you need to go back to Portland.”

“We have been away for the last two months and it is time to go back,” she replied.

“I am so proud of you that you passed your aPHR exam. That’s a big and valuable accomplishment. You were very discipline and determined,” I appreciated her.

“Thanks Dad. The hard work paid off,” she responded.

aPHR stands for Associate Professional in Human Resources. In addition to passing the exam, Megan will also be returning to her last job as a Recruiter for a vacation company next week. That was great news for her.

When we got back to the parking lot, we noticed that Zona’s feet looked dirty from the mud. So, we took him to the boat launch to wash him. He drank the water and submerged almost his whole body in the water. Despite the heat, it was a great run. I do not remember when the last time I ran with Megan and I do not know when we will run together again in the future. At least we have something we enjoy doing together.