Go Dolphins!!! May 8, 2010

This weekend I had an incredible experience. My cousin Kylee helps to take care of several people in their home. One in particular has down syndrome and her name is Nellie. Nellie is part of the Gate City Dophins, a swimming team, and this last weekend she competed in the Special Olympics held on campus in Rexburg and we were invited to go. We spent the night before preparing for the special event by making huge signs that said "GO NELLY", creating t-shirts that said "Team Nellie" on the back, and then Kylee bought her some flowers and baloons. We were so excited and left for Rexburg early the next morning so that we could make sure we were on time for the opening ceremonies. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by happy faces of competitors and their family and friends. We were looking for Nellie when an older man who had downs saw us and said "Hi friends" and then gave us the biggest hug he could. It was a small gesture but it kind of left me a little emotional. He never met me or saw me in my life but he saw us as his friends and you could tell he really loved us. He really knew what it was like to have a Christ-like love for others.
After saying goodbye to our new friend we found Nellie and said hi. We told her all about our posters and showed her our shirts. She got excited and took a few pictures with us. She told me all about her boyfriend and how she rode the bus with all of her friends to rexburg. She has such a sweet spirit you just want to take her home. We soon found our way to the stands where we watched the opening ceremonies for each of the teams. I didn't expect to become a big baby but as each of the teams were introduced they came out on the track with their hands held high cheering. But it wasn't just for themselves, They would get just as excited for their team as they did every other team that was announced. A sweet girl who had some handicaps then sang the national anthem. Everyone down on the track joined in and then cheered loudly when it was all done. Becky, Kylee, and I all looked at eachother and couldn't help but be a little emotional. It was so neat to be able to feel of their sweet spirits.

 

After the opening ceremonies were done we headed inside to the pool to watch Nellie compete. She had 3 races. In her last races she swam 16 laps in the pool! I don't know about you but I know that I would have been huffing and puffing after one lap. She did so good!

 One thing that was really great was that even if the person who was competing came in last their team cheared for them as if they had just won first, and they were just so excited that they were able to finish. Nellie's step dad spent most of the day with us cheering for Nellie and telling us fun stories about her. We also made some new friends. There was a man who had a handicap who kept cheering for everyone and running up and down the length of the pool screaming "We got spirit yes we do! We got spirit how about you!?" Then he'd scream "WOOOO HOOOO!" He was hillarious and so happy. He also kept telling us about his friend Bryan that he met at the special Olympics in Seattle. They were so much fun to be around!

Our day soon wound down and Nellie finished her last race extreamly tired but happy because she did her best. We were all exhausted too from watching and being in a humid room for several hours but it was all worth it and a great way to spend the day. We left wishing that there was some way that we could take the sweet spirits of those that we met with us that day. One thing that we do know tho, was that we learned several lessons that day about loving others and what life is really all about. It's not about fancy clothes or trying to "one up" eachother, it's about loving new people for who they are and calling them your friends when you don't know them, and for cheering your team on even when you're losing, and it's about family.