Day 3 and final thoughts on the SO State Meet

Christian and Chad both had their 100M run and walk respectively.  Chad did well and came in 4th which was great for him.  Christian did great and came in first - a gold medal.  He was quite proud of himself.

There are always so many characters who stand out in my mind.  There's Joe who I observed in the staging area with a very crabby look on his face.  A sweet young volunteer was just trying to make small talk and Joe loudly and expressively said, "I should be at work.  I had to take two days off for this?  I'd rather be at work".  Poor volunteer had no idea what to say - I, on the other hand, tried hard to suppress my giggle.

Then there's Dennis - every time I saw him he was grinning and joking with everyone around him.  His joy was just ridiculously contagious.  Who wouldn't want to be around Dennis.  He seemed to have an entourage everywhere he went - no wonder with his infectiously positive attitude.

There was also the young lady who walked with a walker and tipped over the curb falling down hard.  The person with her couldn't get her up alone, but within seconds many hands had her up and were brushing her off.  That's why many of us were there - because we care about this group of people - as a group and individually.

Day 3 State Special Olympics

We had to be there earlier Sat. and got a closer parking lot spot.  I was hoping we could just swiftly go up the bridge and into the field without Callie getting too freaked out about the buses.  No such luck.  She tried riding Austin's, our helper for the day, back but was having trouble staying on.  As we neared the bus she kept saying - not by the bus - on the bus - like the field trip.  She jumped on the bus and all was well.  Apparently to her being in the monster is better than walking by it.  Definitely an analogy of some sort, but I was much to tired to connect the dots.

Callie had her long jump and as she has done at every practice she jumped once then again and again in the pit to the end.  She had an audience by the second jump who found her "style" adorable.  Then, for some reason, she only jumped once the last time.  She took a silver, which was awesome.

Christian had his 200 meter run first and really ran the whole way taking a gold medal.  Then took a gold for the 50M.  Really surprised us all as he is usually pretty cavalier about his running.  He was really proud of himself as well he should have been.

Our first state meet was exhausting and stressful, but I'm glad we did it and we will do it again.

Day 2 - Minnesota Special Olympics Meet

Today Callie had her 100M run.  The walk from the parking lot to the field was very stressful for Callie.  There are school buses for shuttling people and city buses as well as general traffic noise.  All of which is completely overwhelming for Callie.  She is terrified of the buses - she fears their loud breaks, their unexpected starting and stopping.  It took everything we had to get her safely up and over the bridge.  She finally made it, but was clearly stressed out by the experience.

 Thankfully she remembered the Boogie Tent - the place where dancing happens.  She did the macarana, the hokey pokey and Surfin' USA - with every song and dance she relaxed.  It was also mascot day - there was the Saints baseball team mascot, the Wild's mascot, McGruff, some others I didn't recognize and her favorite - Buck the Swarm mascot.  The Swarm is our pro lacrosse team - her big brother, a big fan and player of lacrosse,  would have been proud.  In true Callie style she put the mascots together in matchmaker style and brought people in to dance along.

She was ready to go when it was time for her big race.  I watched several other races as I waited for her to line up for her race.  Finally it's their turn and Callie and our friend Julie follow the group into the arena, then across the field and I was perplexed - why are they crossing the field when the finish line is clearly right in front of me - the cheerers are right in front of me.  All of a sudden I realize that she is going to run her race on the other side of the track.  She is going to run the race that we had worked so hard on.  We worked on conquering her fear of the starter gun or even the whistle - we talked and talked about staying strong - not crying or falling down or clawing the track due to her anxiety.  I panicked that I was going to miss this race that we had all worked so hard on.  I jumped up, grabbed my camera and while repeating - you've got to be kidding me - all the way around the track I ran trying to get there in time.  I wanted that first race on video so we could celebrate it over and over.  I realized there was no way I would make it in time.  I could tell she was running well, but not what place she took.

Immediately afterwards she went to the awards ceremony.  We anxiously waited to see what place she came in.  Hallelujah she was 2nd - she appeared to be the youngest by far, but she came in second.  We were all so proud of her.  As Julie and I talked about it we realized that it was very likely she ran well because she was on the far side of the track - away from the cheerers and all the observers.  In retrospect it was a good thing for Callie and after all it is suppose to be about her and her ability to overcome - not my need as a mom to fulfill my desire to madly cheer for our girl who is an overcomer and continues to be an overcomer.  Oh, I was cheering - it was just a quieter more inside type of cheer.  Yeah Callie!

Special Olympics State Meet Day One

Today was the first day of the 2011 state Special Olympics Meet.  Christian had a softball throw and Callie had a tennis ball throw.  While we were waiting for their turn, we watched a wheelchair race.  It was a 25M wheelchair race.  There were 4 men racing.  The first and second ones across the finish line were in racing chairs and tooling along pretty quickly.  The third finished shortly after.

 I thought the race was over and then heard the cheerers, yes they have volunteers whose specific job is cheering the athletes, were cheering for Paul who had basically parked on the side.  He would move just a foot or so after lots of cheering and encouragement.  It was over 16 minutes before he completed his 25M, but no one seemed to lose their patience, no one stopped him because it was taking so long and no one seemed to be at all discouraged - especially Paul.  It seems clique to say it was inspiring, but I don't know what other word to use.

Christian did a great job and took silver in the softball throw.  Callie was more interested in her technique then the actual outcome of her throw, but she was thrilled to get a bronze.

Last practice - Next stop State Meet

Tonight was the last practice for Special Olympics track and field before the state meet this Thurs., Fri. and Sat.  The field was full tonight of young men playing summer football.  Callie started out all right, but as they started playing their game the whistles started and Callie began to lose it.  She wanted to practice her run, but got about half way and fell apart.  She lie on the ground and cried.  I encouraged her to get up and try again and after a couple more false starts she made it.

Friday she is to run her 100M race.  Many of her favorite people will be there cheering her on - although she is not fond of cheering either.  There are so many of us who have a vested interest in her succeeding, but at the end of the day - she is already a huge success as she's overcome so much and, eventually, I have no doubt that this is something she will also overcome.  It may not be this year, but we will continue to cheer her on until she does.

Special Olympics flashback

Callie and Christian are both old enough to participate in Special Olympics now, so I signed them up for track and field.  Chad, who is 36 now, was active for a few years when he was in elementary school.  For a variety of reasons we stopped participating, not the least of which was his fear of starter guns.  He would stand at the starter line with his hands on his ears waiting for the gun to go off and after all the other athletes were well on their way he would start his run.

 I assumed with the awareness of sensory issues, sensitivity to sound being a big one, another way to start races would have been in place.  But, as Callie lined up to run for the first time, with her ear protectors in place, she saw the starter gun and started walking briskly the other direction.  I was very clear that if the gun was used, we would likely have to leave and the dad put the gun away without hesitation.  I asked the coach if they would be used at the meets and the answer was a clear yes.

It seemed an e-mail to the state office was in order to express some dismay that the use of guns was still in effect.  The reply I got was that when a sport traditionally uses a starter gun, then that's what they do.  If an athlete has a problem with the gun a whistle can be used in it's place.  Now this really shows no understanding of sensory issues as any gun going off anywhere in the arena will send Callie running - and not as intended.

After stewing about it a bit I decided that we should figure out a way for her to make peace with the starter gun.  She can't spend her whole life arranging her life around the possibility of loud and unexpected noises.    So, a new pair of ear protectors, hopefully a more effective pair, are on order.  The $200+ ones are out of our price range, so hopefully the $35 will suffice.  I'm also tracking down a starter gun and darn it we're going to do our level best to help her overcome her fear.  She's overcome so much, why not this?

Now, as to the Special Olympics - one of the meanings of special refers to exceptional.  Callie is nothing if not exceptional and if anyone deserves to run in the Special Olympics - she does.