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No matter how tired she felt, Joy put on her tennis shoes and walked out the door. Like a child, she began to see nature for the first time again. She also began to realize that freedom was a process and a daily decision to keep moving in spite of the battle in her mind. The result of her decision to get outside and walk was a weight loss of 64 pounds and a much freer soul. After a couple of years, she decided that walking wasn’t enough. “I got bored with it,” said Joy. “And I decided to try to run. At first, I’d run a short distance. The next time, I’d run the same distance twice.” Fifteen minutes of running turned into twenty. Eventually, her running time turned into an hour. While running, Joy didn’t have enough energy to dwell on anger and the beauty of the world around her at the same time. And the world around her was something she no longer wanted to miss. Instead of running from painful memories, she was running with each new day. Joy continued to journal, but running now became a lifelong passion. “Every morning, I’m up at 3:30 a.m. I have two cups of coffee, and I’m out the door at 4:00 a.m. When you get up and run in the mornings, you get to hear the birds sing and watch the sunrise. There’s fresh air. I see deer, rabbits, and squirrels.” In 2012, Joy took running to another level. When she heard about the Vidalia Onion run, she signed up for the 10k. “By the end of the race, I thought I was literally going to die,” said Joy. “I realized that running a race was not the same as going out for a jog. That day, I decided that before the next year came around, I would train and be ready for the 5k.” In 2013, she ran the 5k and came in 1st in her age group with a time of 26 minutes. She was 44 years old. Joy has won 1st place in her age group at the Vidalia Onion Run every year since with times of 23 minutes (2014), 24.04 minutes (2015), and 24.30 (2016). Her times are sometimes better than Discover more at DotFoods.com/discoverdot Discover Dot …and you’ll discover a growing company. • On average, we’ve doubled in size every five years for the past four decades. • We’ve added more than 700 new positions nationwide in the past five years. What’s it add up to? Incredible growth – and that means more jobs for you and your city. Dot Foods – pioneers in redistribution – and a proud member of your local community. winners in age groups much younger than her own. Joy has also won 1st place female overall in both the Tickled Pink 5k Color Run and the Real Squeal 5k race. Another vital part of her freedom has been the decision to forgive. “Forgiveness doesn’t happen overnight,” said Joy. “I’ve been through so many emotions over the years: hate, bitterness, distrust, anger, and self-pity. I had to search my heart and mind to forgive so that I could free myself from of all of those negative emotions. It was a long process.” Forgiveness is an important practice for our health and wellbeing, but when it is defined as something it is not, it can cause a sense of guilt 217.773.4411 DotFoods.com/discoverdot DOT FOODS, INC. 1 Dot Way, Mt. Sterling, IL Dot Foods is an equal opporunity employer. and misunderstanding. “I had to come to terms to forgive the man who had hurt me so much,” said Joy, “and had taken someone who was so precious. If I held onto this hatred and bitterness, I was in the same place he was. I had to rise above, forgive, and become a new person – a person who could finally forgive and be free. “I had so much hate for that man. I needed my mother. I still do. He took her away from us. My mother was not here for weddings or the birth of our children. My daughter Lindsay will never know her grandmother. My sisters and I don’t talk about what happened very often. I would give anything just to hear Mama’s voice, see her smile, hear her laugh, and hear her Hometown Living At Its Best 97


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