Gold Medal Weekend
It was a gold medal weekend around here, all around, though some may not exactly see it that way. For the most part, plans for my birthday on Saturday were altered and adjusted to fit in with skating rehearsals and an early bed time to ensure everybody was well rested and ready to head out skating early on Sunday.
I did take some time to walk over to city hall, where I met two couples that were camped out all day in support of the No On 8 protests. The five of us didn’t make for much of a protest, but it was better (I think) than nobody showing up at all, and I thought the whole banding together on a single day across the country was a great idea, and pulled off well nationwide (even if not in my hometown). Being the only one (allowed to be) married out of the group they thanked me for “representing” though I felt quite disappointed that I was the only one there to hold that position, and especially since I only stayed an hour or so to show my support. But, as much as I would have like to have stayed around longer, I had my own chores, and birthday dinner to cook. (OK, I only had to cook part of it, and that was only because TheWife had to take LatteGirl to her practice).
I am sure many who follow me on Twitter probably tuned out as I made such a big deal over my daughter’s first figure skating competition… not to mention her winning it. Granted, winning at this level is not a big deal. Virtually all kids walk away with some sort of “award” for their participation. But I was very proud of her, and if I am over the top silly about it, well… honestly I don’t care, because it meant a lot to her, and by extension to me as well. My primary concern is that she is happy, and that she had fun. At the same time, she has put so much work into this as I mentioned when I admitted when I said how nervous I was for her.
She put other thing aside, passed up or gave up other activities to dedicate herself to this. Even over the past couple of days, it showed. She came down with a bit of a cold, and fought through the cold and some rough rehersals, and again passed up on other things to “get myself better” before the event. Since I do not frequently get to see her practice, I was actually amazed at how far along she had come in just the month or so since I got to see her practice last.
And while I was beaming with pride as I watched her skate, and again when she was announced as the winner, it wasn’t the proudest I was of her on this particular day. During her “event” (there many “events” with up to 4 girls in each “event”), one of the four girls fell during her routine (side note: I was really amazed at how few falls overall there were. I expected a lot more spills than actually happened). Apparently (according to her coach, parents are now allowed in staging area during the event) LatteGirl was cheering the girl to get up and go on, and that “she could do it” and not to worry about it, and even gave the girl a hug and told her she was fine when she came off the ice. Keep in mind, this is not somebody she is friends with, or has even seen in her own rink, it is just another little girl who was “going to be sad,” and that is all she was worried about. In many sports kids (and their parents) forget that this is supposed to be fun and not cut throat (just how cut throat people are in figure skating, is a post for another day), and worry about winning above everything else.
So, in the end, I had a great birthday dinner, made some new friends, and got to watch my daughter in her first competition (which as a bonus she also happened to win). For me, it was a gold medal weekend all around.
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That’s awesome no matter how many kids get an award. Congrats to her! Great story about supporting the other girl too.
[...] have headed off on their own o Lake Placid. This is not really all that much different than the event she went to in Yonkers. Except it is bigger, with far more competitors from all over the country. [...]