Special Olympics

Okay, I haven’t written about this yet because I’ve wanted to take the time to do it justice.  But I gotta tell you about one of my favorite things in life.  And I am not exaggerating.

#3 has been running track for our local Special Olympics team for the past three seasons.  The season is short and the weekly commitment minimal.  This keeps kids like #3 interested.  My friend Linda started our local group and has worked her magic to find funding for very cool team track suits, which also keeps kids like #3 interested.

Special Olympics track meets are like one big goose bump.  It is an absolute joy to see teams made up of people of all ages and all abilities gather to compete and to cheer each other on.  Yes, those stories you hear are true: the athletes actually cheer each other on.  I commented to my husband at an earlier meet that I didn’t notice any screaming coaches or athletes throwing tantrums. Rather, it was common to see the athletes hugging each other after the races.

And how could you not love to watch events like the tennis ball throw and the 100M walk?  If you are even alive enough to breathe, you’d get just the tiniest bit teary watching a Special Olympics meet.

Here’s a picture of #3 after he won his 100M race.

Yep, he won. =)  We were so proud.  It meant that he qualified for State.  We’ll post about that later.