I don't know if Mama was right or if it...it's Lieutenant Dan. I don't know... if we each have a... destiny... or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze... but I...I think... maybe it's both. Maybe both get happening at the same time.
Now...for some reason, what I was doing seemed to... make sense to people. It was like an alarm went off in my head. I said, "Here's a guy that's got his act together. Here's somebody who has the answer." I'll follow you anywhere, Mr. Gump. So I got company. And after that, I got more company. And then, even more people joined in. Somebody later told me it gave people hope. Now, I don't know anything about that,
Sir, where are you running? Are you doing this for world peace? Are you doing this for the homeless? Are you running for women's rights? The environment? They just couldn't believe that somebody would do all that running for no particular reason. Why are you doing this? I just felt like running. I just felt like running.
That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road, and when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County. Now, I figured since I'd run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Alabama. And that's what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. No particular reason. I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured since I'd gone this far, might as well turn around, just keep on going. And when I got to another ocean, I figured since I'd gone this far... I might as well just turn back and keep right on going. When I got tired, I slept. When I got hungry, I ate. When I had to go... you know... I went.
Don't you be afraid, sweet heart. Death is just a part of life. Something we're all destined to do. I didn't know it, but I was destined to be your mama. I did the best I could. Well...I happen to believe you make your own destiny. You have to do the best with what God gave you.