Finished the final leg of the journey through Jack and Eugene’s World Tour, a virtual race series on the ZRX app. For those that are unaware, the app has been around since 2012; kickstarted as a fun way to instill motivation for running in a zombie apocalypse. It has morphed into a world-renowned fitness app that encompasses not only zombies, but Marvel superheroes and other stories to help motivate anyone into a fitness lifestyle. They incorporate virtual races twice a year with leaderboards to encapsulate a sense of community. Jack and Eugene’s World Tour came out in 2021 in three parts, first one in their series of virtual races. I finally signed up this year to experience their story.

The missions in this leg of the race start off in outer space as Eugene says while Jack giggles, “These are the ongoing voyages of the Spaceship Unicorn’s Kiss”. It was a lovely homage to Star Trek, with a little bit of zombie alien flare. But the story rapidly changes scenery, allowing us to journey into the events that led to Eugene’s severed leg and the moment when Jack helps him to Abel Township for the first time. All wonderful moments and audio scenes with action, adventure, tearful regrets, and uplifting triumphs. There is even a wonderful surprise at the end that is magically heartfelt and perfectly timed to my own journey at the moment.

For the final 5K, I chose to run from our home at Feeder Bend to the bustling Downtown Glens Falls to Michael and our first apartment on Nelson Street past our second apartment on Ridge Street to the Feeder Canal Trail. Once there, I realized that running on the trail after a major snowstorm mixed with icy rain was very tumultuous and potentially dangerous. But I slowed my pace, as Jack carried Eugene toward the red beacon atop Abel Township, the refuge of the characters that anyone playing the game will get to know. Running along the canal, over the Water Street bridge, and through Overlook Drive toward Feeder Bend made me realize the number of changes to the area since I moved up here in 2017.

South Street, while still in construction, is nearly unrecognizable when I first drove up to Glens Falls in 2015. Nelson Street has a new dog park, after tearing down the children’s playground recently. Ridge Street has seen tons of new developments, from restaurants to bookstores to short-term living rentals. The Centennial Circle now has two wonderful murals that bring color to the area. City Hall now has a cover over the stair entrance, allowing the local Department of Public Works to prevent snow and ice from causing slip-and-falls. The Feeder Canal Trail now has two additional pedestrian bridges, with more trails, bridges, and park developments in the work at the nearby Haviland’s Cove Park.

Change is inevitable in life, some good and some bad. While it might be distressing and sad to watch something change into something new, if done right, it will inspire more new developments in so many ways.

As I ran along the sidewalks and trails around town, the musical interlude interspliced between mission dialog was perfect. I listened to Tom Petty’s Runnin’ Down a Dream while traversing the Feeder Canal Trail, Bill Conti’s Gonna Fly Now from the Rocky Soundtrack while running past Nelson Street toward Centennial Circle, and, of course, the mission ended on Dire Straits’ Walk of Life. As the musical soundtrack, city sights, and mission dialog filled my senses, I could not help but shed a tear.

Being with Michael for nearly 10 years has been very special. We have ventured on many trips around the Northeast (including venturing into international destinations), met with so many new friends, and built a life together in apartments or a house. Given my most recent harrowing experience last year that almost took my life, it was even more fortuitous that the last song to play from my experience with Jack and Eugene’s World Tour was Walk of Life.

Once I got the help I needed, learned how to work through my heightened anxiety and debilitating, at times, depression, trained my mind to appreciate meditation, opened up about mental health struggles with friends and family, rebuilt my attention by limiting the endless-strolling social media feeds, and rediscovered my love of putting thoughts to paper (or keyboard), I can now say that my life has value, as it does for all of us. For those of a certain political persuasion, this year can be scary, with so many uncertainties and changes in store for America and the world. But remember to keep holding your head high; live to fight for what you believe in. Keep living with your own truth, as long as it does not harm others.

Anne Applebaum, a journalist and writer, ends her Atlantic essay with a short anecdote about Władysław Bartoszewski, who was a member of the wartime Polish underground, a prisoner of both the Nazis and the Stalinists, and then, finally, the foreign minister in two Polish democratic governments. Later in his life, he summed up the philosophy that had guided him through all of these tumultuous political changes. It was not idealism that drove him, or big ideas, he said. It was this: “Warto być przyzwoitym—Just try to be decent.” And that is something we can all learn from in life.

As Michael and I embark on a new journey in our relationship as husbands, we will continue to spread love and kindness to everyone we meet; to continue to use empathy, curiosity, logical reasoning, and the power of individual actions to make sure that the world we live remains bright into the future.