• To arms •
[3 MIN READ]
Last week we had to say goodbye to a Growler who made a big impression on the club in a little period of time. Jackie was a club newbie a mere 14 months ago and she got us right away. Not only did she arrive with comfortable running abilities, she also understood our beer culture and made herself a regular part of run after-gatherings. She even helped to raise the bar.
Cracking open a few beers was a part of the weekly post-run from the time I joined in 2012, but the club got even warmer and more sociable during her tenure. In the last couple of years, we began celebrating WWW once a month with outings to Human Robot and The Pizza Wheel. Her eager involvement in hangouts helped make that celebration into weekly post-run outings. You can witness the love for it as anticipation and participation have grown.
Good conversation comes with “warmer and more sociable.” For her part, Jackie always did that balance of listening and talking that made running and hanging out better. Since her arrival, we’ve had even more runners join who hover in that space particularly well; but it’s pretty obvious that Jackie has been inimitable with her blend of personal and professional experiences and her willingness to contribute from them. Relative to the latter, as a urology physician assistant, Jackie was not one to shrink from a male-anatomy pun. She claimed it was the main reason she chose to work in the specialty while she was in the Philly area.
Jackie made it clear from the start that she was around to support her guy’s effort to earn his own physician assistant degree at Arcadia University (a place near and dear to me) with the final intent to move back to her home area in New Hampshire; so we knew that her departure was inevitable. But the closer the time got to graduation, the more we had to (uh) harden ourselves. Fortunately for the both of them, the VA hospital she interviewed with was able to maintain its commitment to hiring her, even as a norm-busting presidency ramped up.
A few years ago, as part of a small traveling-team effort, we Growlers printed our own club shirt. That first run was long sleeved. We’d been talking about another printing run for a while, in short sleeves. With her departure as the catalyst, we placed the order and gifted Jackie’s the arm-exposing incarnation to take to NH.
“Farewell” is a way of saying “goodbye,” as in “fare thee well.” It’s a wish for good things upon the one taking leave. It’s a fine word in the CtCloser tradition. As a fine digression, also in the CtCloser tradition, the words “a farewell to”—e.g., Jackie—recalls the name of a book by Ernest Hemingway. “A Farewell to Arms” uses the word “arms” in multiple ways, but foremost as the armaments of World War I as it was coming to an end.
Jackie, we’re crying both over the reality of losing your legs (ironically, our runners’ arms) from among the crew’s as we fight our battles with Jenkintown’s pavement and of losing your engagement in conversation; but, we’re celebrating our continuing connection through the sharing of our short-sleeved uniforms. Farewell! Thanks for joining us as a comrade.
-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative split or positive splat” #dothedue
FINE PRINT ¶Likeness used with permission. ¶Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. ¶Cross-posted: (1) Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run (2025’06’04’W Run Message), (2) GGR email list, (3) Cerebruns by CtCloser. ¶This website posting: Cerebrun with added caption.
Share this post @ iCandybyWangC.com
iCandybyWangC 