Happy Valentine's Day everyone! This morning has been extra sweet because my school had a delayed opening due to the terrible snow storm yesterday, so I got to sleep in a bit. The extra rest was much needed considering my hubby and I stayed up super late watching the Olympics together. One of my favorite parts has always been the human interest stories that NBC peppers in throughout the sporting events. I will watch every single one of them while choking back tears, even the ones about men's curling, which I am convinced is actually just average dudes in parkas sweeping little brooms super fast (which I guess is kind of spectacular considering my husband has never picked up a broom in his life.) When I have a son or daughter one day, I am totally going to convince them to devote all of their time to curling. I figure any child that has half of my genes will have absolutely no athletic prowess to speak of, so sweeping is probably the place to focus. [Side note: if anyone who reads this blog--though I am pretty sure it's just my mom--is actually super into curling, I am sorry. Way to go! Curling is so hip!]
Last night, there was a feature about Noelle Pikus-Pace, an American skeleton racer who is competing in her third Olympic games. Noelle retired the day after the 2010 Olympics so that she could spend more time with her husband and daughter (she now has a son, too) and continue to build a family. In 2012 she found out she was pregnant again with a little girl, but she lost her at 18 weeks; the doctors could not find any medical reason for her loss. As a way to heal, Noelle's husband encouraged her to get back into skeleton racing...and she now finds herself in Sochi going for Olympic gold. Here is a link to an article that speaks more about her loss and journey.
Obviously I connected with Noelle's story in a way that is far deeper than your average television viewer, but I cannot stress enough how refreshing it felt to hear from a brave woman who has gone through something devastating, and managed to come out stronger on the other side. Every time I check out a celebrity gossip website it seems like another young celebutante with a cocaine addiction and a string of failed marriages is announcing her pregnancy. The girls from Teen Mom have gaggles of tiny babies following them around, and half the time they don't even know how they got pregnant in the first place (hint: it's because you had unprotected sex in the back of a Chevy truck after your seventh glass of pink Franzia.) As I struggle with infertility and loss and trying to conceive a healthy baby, stories like Noelle's make me realize that I am not alone. I am not about the pick up skeleton racing--curling is much more my speed--but I know that ultimately I will come out stronger on the other side just like Noelle.
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