My Daughter the Competitor

This is Rachel, my youngest daughter. (momsrachel on blipfoto) She will compete this coming weekend in the Southern California Special Olympics at Long Beach State University. She will compete in the 100 meter freestyle, the fifty meter backstroke, the fifty meter freestyle and the 200 meter relay. She has been practicing every day that I have been here. She swims well but her turnarounds are slow, so she practiced those over and over again! Her little hands were raw! I would tell her to take a break and she would keep going until she was satisfied! Rachel has Down Syndrome but she has never let it stop her. Right now, she is writing a "personal statement" to be sent to the University of Fresno because she wants to be a part of their four year college course called "The Wayfinders" Can you tell how proud I am of her?

Anyway, the amazing thing to me is that many of the athletes at the Special Olympics are very competitive and work very hard to be their best but win or lose they are so happy for all the other athletes. As soon as they have done their best, you see them hugging the winners and celebrating right along with them. Wouldn't the world be a much better place if we all had that attitude?