You never know what kind of impact you have on people by just being you. (Donāt neglect that!)
I love sports! Not only for the entertainment aspect of it but for the meaning it brings to those who not only perform it but to those who are inspired by it.Ā I can remember being as young as 5 or 6 years old and jumping around in the living room at my grandparents home in Orange, CT and showing off myĀ āmovesā to my mom, who would always worry that I would crack my neck. She had good reason to be concerned considering that Iāve had a pretty good record banging my head a lot (which Iām sure will bring a lot of explanation to some). š¤£I was jumping around because I would obsess over the 1988 gymnastics teams. My love for the sport wasnāt cemented until USA won in 1996 with theĀ āMagnificent Sevenā. Kerri Strug killed it and guarantied gold for team USA while being injured, but the gymnast I mostly admired was Dominique Moceanu. I didnāt realize that gymnastics though went beyond the olympics until I went back to college and heard that a University from a neighboring townhad a gymnastics team. I didnāt pay much attention to the sport thought until UCLAās Sophina DeJesusā floor routine went viral. Since then I began to follow the team because of one simple reason:Ā āMiss Valā (their coach). In 2018, Miss Val announced that she would retire by the end of the 2019 season after being head coach for 28 years and being a part of the gymnastics staff for 36 years. She published a book entitledĀ āLife is Short, Don't Wait to Danceā right around the time I was hospitalized because of some blood clots my doctor had found in my intestine. I was hospitalized for 5 days and happy to report that all is well! (But this is not about me) After hearing Miss Val in various interviews and reading snippets from her book, I decided to make it a mission to head to one meet this season. I made it to two, including her last home meet. I didnāt know how I would accomplish this, but I would figure it out. Up to this point, this was really about me as a way to thank Miss V for being quite the inspiration.Ā A few months prior I contacted one of UCLAās former gymnasts, Janay. To my surprise, she responded! Shortly after, I learned that my 7 year old niece decided to quit gymnastics (for the 2nd time), which honestly was somewhat disheartening. She became a lover of the sport after I showed her videos of the 2012 Olympic team. Aly Raisman became her favorite gymnast. I had agreed to help out and pay in part for her gymnastics classes as she seems to have a natural ability for it. However, Bri decided to quit the sport because she wanted to do theĀ āfun partsā only and not the conditioning and everything that builds up into doingĀ āthe fun stuffā and become great at it. In order to not push her to do something and end up hating it, I contacted Janay to seek some advice. Janay (bless her heart) responded again. So I mapped out a plan to expose Bri to a meet (seeing that she had never been to one) as a way to show her where her natural God given talents could help her achieve. Also, Belle (Briās older sister) is into making videos, so I proposed to her to film the whole trip and make a 2 to 5 minute video and I would help her fund her trip to DC later this summer. So this trip was no longer about me. I donāt think it ever was meant to be really. I showed Bri videos of Janay performing as well of some of her Youtube Vlogs. Bri wanted to meet her (and other gymnasts) so badly! She immediately fell in love withĀ āNaynay!!ā (as she is called by her friends). My sister and her family drove all the way from Mesa, AZ and spent a few days in LA. We took Bri to the meet and she was overjoyed! Throughout the meet I showed her where Janay was (who was reporting from the side lines). Briās face would light up! The night closed out with 2 perfect tens from Kyla Ross and Katelyn Ohashi on floor exercise. Then the dance party begun as a sendoff to Miss Val. It was quite a magical experience. Bri and the fam got to take pictures with some of the gymnasts and just the fact that strangers take time to meet other strangers and give them a few minutes of their time to have them express their gratitude is amazing to me.Ā Bri was ecstatic! She couldnāt contain her emotion as she began to prance outside the stadium. She would look up at me and asked if we were to meet Janay. I kept on telling her that I didnāt know š. Little did she know, we were walking towards her. Janay and her family said hi. Bri had her hands over her cheeks containing her smile as if though it was going to fall out of her face. Then her hands went over her head as if she couldnāt believe what she was seeing. She went for the hug and at that precise moment, Janay became her hero, Iām sure of it. We spoke for a few minutes and Janay exchanged a few words of wisdom with Bri. I canāt thank her enough for being so giving and loving. Her parents did well by her and my gratitude extends to them as well. I canāt say if Bri will continue with gymnastics or not, but what I can say is that whatever she will be, sheās going to be her greatest self. Maybe a few years from now Janay will see Bri do something great and realize how much of that moment for Bri begun with that night they met. Now, none of this would have been possible if Janay didnāt reply to my initial message. She didnāt owe me anything. She could have ignored it and that is where it all could have ended. But because of her graciousness, kind and giving heart, not only was Briās life impacted but mine as well.Ā
