Going for Gold!

My Valentine's Day consisted of eating dark chocolate, drinking wine and sobbing my eyes out...but not for the reasons that you think! 

After a fun filled day of handing out Valentine's at work and treating myself to a dessert of frozen yogurt I came home quite content as to how the day panned out. I went to check the mail and there leaning up against the wall was a flower delivery for ME! I was thrilled and was secretly glad no one saw me as I jumped up and down and squealed in delight (thanks Amber)! I also got a "love box" from my mom and a sweet Valentine cards from some other friends and family members. I felt so loved. 

So with a heart full of love I sat down on the couch to watch the Winter Olympics and that's when the waterworks began. I was watching a sport I'd never heard of before - the Skeleton Race. It's a fitting name because you practically have to be a skeleton to slide down that skinny track that the competitors race on.

That's when I first heard of Noelle Pikus-Pace.

Noelle has been to the Olympics prior to this one and at the time decided to retire afterwards and work on building her family with her husband instead of going after her dream of getting an Olympic medal. After the 2010 Olympics, Noelle and her husband were excitedly awaiting the arrival of their third child when Noelle suffered a miscarriage. Just devastating. As she told the story of her heartbreak my heart broke right along with hers.

Noelle started training again for the Skeleton Race because that was the only thing at that point in time that was helping her cope with the loss of their child. She soon realized that maybe this was a sign that she should give her dream of claiming Olympic gold another shot. Then she seriously started training for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The interview ended and it was time for her to race. I've never seen anything like it - Noelle took off running down the slippery slope and jumped onto her board and zoomed off towards her goal. With every bend in the track and every close call to her skidding out and becoming a frozen skeleton, she came closer to reaching her goal. Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain was currently the leading lady of the race that Noelle was vying to claim.

Then in a flash it was all over and as she zoomed over the finish line the announcers exclaimed with excitement that Yarnold had claimed the gold and Noelle had won silver! As the cameras spanned over to Yarnold so that we could see her excitement as she smiled and waved the Great Britain flag, something else caught my eye as the camera turned their attention back to Noelle. I'm sorry to say this (well, maybe I'm not) but the best part of this race, and it makes me cry to think about, is how Noelle reacted. She knew that she didn't get the gold, but she could have fooled me! She crossed that finish line, the line that symbolized so much that she had went through in the prior Olympics by not placing a medal and the pain she went through with the loss of her child. What she did next is what made me burst into tears. She immediately jumped off of her board and even though I couldn't hear it, she probably did a warrior yell, and literally climbed the spectator stands to hug and kiss her waiting and thrilled family.

Noelle did not care that she didn't place gold because she already had the real gold, and that was her family and achieving her goals despite adversity. It was one of the most emotional victories I have seen and I sat there crying because I could tell how much it meant to her.

Her emotions captivated me and the way she reacted to her silver win made me proud to be an American. When life throws challenges our way we fight back. We don't let being in 15th place or falling and getting hurt, much like Jeremy Abbot, stop us from putting up a fight and defying the odds. No. We get back up and we try again. Jeremy skated his personal best in the Olympics and when he skidded to a stop on the ice his smile was brighter than any gold medal. 

Later that night I received a phone call from my Great Grandma Jean. She had gotten my Valentine package that I had sent to her and my two other widowed Grandma's to make their day more special. She was close to tears as she thanked me for the "Kiss Me" frog stuffed animal exclaimed that she had never received a Valentine as thoughtful as this - that was gold to me. 

This weekend the Winter Olympics will end and those that won gold medals will go home and put it on a shelf or encase it in something special and look at it from time to time. But I believe that Noelle and Jeremy really hold onto the real gold medal - family and having the will to succeed and reach your goals no matter what "medal" you end up with.

-A