Don't Stop Because You Are Tired...
Stop Because You Did
What You Set Out to Do!
-Message on a Mom's t-shirt at the swim meet
I was so excited when I got the text message from my oldest daughter, Jessi, telling me the dates for my grandkid's swim meets. Truth be told, nothing thrills me more than screaming and yelling my head off in celebration for whatever my precious grandkids love doing.
Emma and Owen love swimming and put their heart and soul into it.
Saturday afternoon I sat and yelled for Emma. She cuts through the water like a knife and makes backstrokes and butterflies and free styles look easy and effortless. Her passion for life comes through in how she does most everything in her life.
I love that at one swim meet she grinned at me and said, "Nana, I could hear you yelling for me at the bottom of the pool!"
Mission accomplished!
You see for Bert and for me, aka Nana and Boppa, it isn't about where you place that matters. What matters is that you are doing something you love and you pour your whole heart into it.
Sunday morning I trekked out again to the Whitworth pool to see Owen swim. Owen, known as O by all of us who love him, is such a unique soul. I absolutely love the dragon drawing he did for me. I love seeing him swim and yell his heart out for his buddies, Aiden and Liam. They may be little, but they are powerful. They cheer each other on as if there is no tomorrow. They don't hold back their love and enthusiasm, nor do they look around slightly embarrassed because they are making a scene.
Seahawks fans have screaming and yelling down to a fine science. Owen and his best friends give them a run for their money in the "I AM ROOTING for YOU!" department.
And then there was Ava.
Lord have mercy!
This little sweetie was just six years old, as big as a minute,
and it was her very first swim meet.
The pool dwarfed her as she stood in awe looking at the other swimmers, looking at the giant pool, and then glancing at her parents who were waving and praying for her not to drown.
As her Mama said, "Please God don't have her go to the bottom and I'll need to jump in and rescue her."
The tiny swimmers, some seasoned by being in a number of meets, took off for the half way mark, their arms and hands cutting through the water. There was a whole pack of them
racing for the half way point.
And then there was Ava.
Way behind, each stroke seeming to take all her energy.
Dear sweet baby Jesus, I thought we were all going to sweat bullets with her every arm movement and leg kick.
As she swam, you could see her glance over to the stands. Her eyes weren't on the pool as much as they were on her Mama and Daddy and her cheering section.
The other swimmers had eased back to the finish line and Ava had just barely reached the half way point.
They all stood frozen, watching her, mesmerized by her guts and determination.
What I loved most was seeing her, at the half way point, cling to the edge of the pool with one hand, and send a big huge wave and grin to the stands with her other teeny, tiny hand.
She wasn't self conscious because she was way, way last...
she was conscious that a whole room of people, young and old, believed in her and knew she could do what she had set out to do.
With tears streaming down my face as I looked at her tiny swim suit and cap, she started to swim for the finish.
All the other swimmers had made their mark long ago, but no one really cared.
The star of the show was Ava.
Her determination and "I can do hard things" attitude had the whole swim center on their feet, screaming her name and clapping until their hands were raw.
I can't even recall this moment without crying again myself.
I will never, ever forget it.
Her parents were on their feet, gesturing to the end of the pool, waving their arms and screaming her name.
When she made it to the end of the race, the grin on her face said it all...
I knew I could do it because you believed in me.
In that moment, I felt like I finally understood, at the very deepest level, what we can accomplish when someone believes in us and cheers us on from the sidelines.
I also realized that many children growing up don't have a cheering section, people who yell their name and clap their hands in glee, no matter what they are doing. Big or small.
I cried because Ava was so blessed to have a family who believed in her and I cried for all the children who don't have that same cheering section.
I'll never, ever forget the look on Ava's face as she pulled herself out of the pool and turned to face her cheering section.
She came in dead last. Last by a mile. The race had been over
some time ago.
But no one cared where she came in.
She was exhausted but didn't let that stop her. She personified the quote on the Mom's t-shirt I had seen earlier...
Don't stop because you're tired.
Stop because you did what you set out to do.
And the crowd that had cheered her on? The folks of all ages that had called out her name? Our faces were all aglow.
High fives were being passed around between complete strangers. We had all seen such courage in motion in a tiny six year old girl with a huge heart.
She knew she was loved. She knew her family believed in her.
And she knew she could accomplish anything!
Thanks for the life-lesson Ava!
God Bless!
Love, Linda
