Last night was great. I was up til some ungodly hour watching Nastia and Shawn battle it out for the gold. I was so tempted to check msnbc.com between rounds 2 and 3 because I know that being on the west coast, we're watching with a time delay. But I resisted the tempation and sat on the couch til it was all over. It was great to see the 'ol US of A take the gold and silver.
But you remember the Olympic Games of 1984, don't ya? While in Los Angeles, on American soil, in front of the home crowd, Mary Lou Retton was the embodiment of all I wanted to be in a gymnast. (Now mind you, I'm so not athletic. I had never taken any sort of gymnastics training, but I was really good at doing cartwheels and roundoffs. My cousins and I used to practice in my Grandma's front yard.) I remember watching her in awe as she landed that vault. You know which one I'm talking about, they've been showing it in the opening section to the Olympics every single time it comes on. Oh. . .she was my hero.
And when her pixie little face was plastered on the Wheaties box after being the first American to win an Olympics all around gold medal, I ate three boxes of that nasty cereal in order to get the huge poster of her they offered on the back of the box. It was free! All you had to do was fill out the form and mail in three UPC symbols. And I did it. I should've won the gold medal for that. It was hard work! That third box almost did me in.
Did you see her on TV last night? My hero! She was there cheering on Nastia and Shawn. And dare I say, she's looking older these days.
1 comment:
Oh, I DO remember that moment in time. You are right... she was just something else. I did not make it to watch last night. I passed out too early. I hate the Olympics began when school started for me. I would have gladly stayed up to watch. I wish I had seen ole Mary Lou, too...
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