Transplant Olympic Games - Track and Field

First of all we have to apologize for the delay. My sissy's flight was delayed and she and her hubby didn't get home until 4AM this morning and she had to get up for a business meeting at 8AM! UGH!

Here's sissy:

Discus was the first event today. Dad was full of excitement. He was full of energy and confidence giving new comers George and Roger from Team CT lots of pointers. It appears that Davey’s coaching did pay off. Dad’s results were:

1st throw – 63’

2nd throw – It was his best throw but a foul :-(

3rd throw – 72.5’

Dad also coached a new comer, Ann, from Team Rocky Mtn. Dad, Jim and I quickly became friends with her. She was supposed to run the 1500m today but there was a mix up with the registration so she signed up for discus instead. Mind you she has never thrown a discus before. But with a little coaching from Dad she managed to pull off a 36’ foot throw which won her a silver metal!

Right after the discus, the men threw shot-put. It was hard keeping track because we were excited cheering on Ann and cheering on the Shot-put athletes. Dad’s results were:

First throw 27’

Second throw 27.11 ¼

Third throw 27.81/4

After the discus event, Jim and I left for the airport to head home. I was all set with this posting when there was a little hiccup in our travel plans. I’m sorry for my delay with the post but I hope you’ve enjoyed sharing our experience at the 2008 Transplant Olympics. It’s about 7:30 pm on Tuesday. Dad is attending the closing ceremonies. He didn’t have any events today so hopefully he was able to relax a bit and enjoy Pittsburgh and cheer on the rest of Team CT.

The Transplant Games truly are an experience. It is rare these days that we are amongst a group of people who are simply just happy to be alive! We get so bogged down with life’s day to day stresses, hustles and bustles that I think we forget at times that life is a gift and for most of us it only comes once. I am proud to have been able to share the Transplant Olympic experience twice with Dad. And I am proud to have a husband who supported me and encouraged us to make the trip to share the experience together. It meant the world to me to be able to be there to cheer on my hero, my Dad. I know that it was tough road to follow to get to the Transplant Games not only for Dad but for all of the athletes, their families and the donor families. There were probably a lot of days where you wanted to throw in the towel and say the heck with this! I’m proud of you all for never giving up and being who you are today…enjoying the gift of life.Thank you all for sharing this experience with us, your kind words and support.

We are just so darned proud of our dad and we are so excited about him coming home tomorrow! We sure have missed him - LOTS!!!

So until next time.............

Love ya lots,

Maggie & Mitch