She loved doing gymnastics and to this day, that's where she'd rather be — coaching floor routines in the gym and spotting kids on the bars and the beam and the vault.
I was secretly relieved at the time and not just because the budget could get a break.
Sitting through endless meets is a challenge.
I loved watching my daughter compete but gymnastics meets are truly an exercise in endurance. There's no set starting time and the ending time is a moving target.
It's tough going.
So now Marc and I are going to meets to watch the grandkids and they are no better than they were a couple of decades ago.
I still find it mind numbing broken up by some aggravating moments like when the judges deny my talented grandchild his due.
Saturday we had two grandkids in a local meet so we knew we were signed up for the duration.
It was supposed to start at 9 a.m. By 9:30 we were hoping for movement. At around 10 a.m., events began.
We watched Alyson in her shiny lavender and white leotard do a cute floor routine. We watched Keslie in dark shiny blue run for the vault and land flat on her back (which is what she is supposed to do).
We kept track of their scores and dutifully followed them about. We were relieved when neither one fell off the beam or hurt themselves on the high bars.
When they were competing, it was interesting but then there were all these other kids in between.
Finally, it was noon and nearly over. I started gathering my things and Alyson since we were watching her and her sister for the weekend.
Other parents were hanging about for the awards but we figured my daughter could fill us in.
We were moving toward the door, Alyson in hand (She'd won a couple of ribbons) when they announced "Keslie Morrey, 8th on beam," "Keslie Morrey, first on bars" followed by "Keslie Morrey, first on vault" and "Keslie Morrey, second on floor," and "Keslie Morrey, first overall for Level 5!"
She beamed. We beamed. We were happy to be there for the beaming.
Maybe this meet wasn't so bad.
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