Special Track Star

A few weeks ago I had mentioned that Brother had a track meet. It was canceled due to rain.

He had another one before Spring Break but I didn't know the time and missed his competition.

Today was the day I got to see my special track star in action.

Marc took some time off work to come watch him too.

Brother is involved in this track team along with the mainstream kids in the Junior High. He gets to ride the bus there with all the regular education kids and then they have his special needs team compete just before the mainstream kids compete.

I can't really explain it, but Marc and are were so giddy with excitement as we watched him walk about the track field with his coach and fellow teammate. We got a kick out of the other kids from the track team who knew Brother by name and said "hi" or patted him on the back as they'd walk by. My heart was so full as I saw him being treated like "somebody" and not a "nobody."

Brother's Junior High only had two team members today, and the other special needs team had about 7 or 8, I think. Their first event was the long jump. I was the helper who got to write the jump lengths down on the paper. Brother was the last one in line and they got 3 tries each. It was so fun to watch all these young people with special challenges pushing themselves to hard to achieve their best. It was truly inspiring, really, seeing that they have so much working against them physically and mentally, yet they still try their hardest with smiles on their faces and are so proud they did it. They don't care what the end result is, they just care that they did it.

My favorite! Look at those arms! He thinks he's flying!

The icing on the cake, and what brought tears to my eyes was when Brother started the run for his first jump and all of a sudden I noticed the cheers of some fellow schoolmates cheering him on sincerely. Calling him by name and telling him he could do it! He was so proud as he ran that stretch to the sandpit. All three times he was cheered on by the small crowd that had gathered on the far side of the track field. All three times he walked over to me for a high five and a shy hug, even though, earlier he had announced to Marc and I that we were to go home.

After the long jump we walked over to the starting blocks to get ready for the 100 meter race. It was so awesome to watch Brother's coach get him all set up in the starting blocks, showing him the stance he needed to start off a good run. I was cheering and screaming for him. Heck, I was proud of him for staying in his lane the entire run, but then to notice the entire section of bleachers cheering him on was amazing. Then to see him take 2nd place among the 7th graders that ran made me so proud.

Getting some last minute advice from his coach.

And he's off!

Getting into gear!

He's flying!

Here he is in his second place he held the whole way to the finish line.
(Next time I'm bringing my awesome camera and not just my iPhone)

Again he came to find me for a high five and a shy hug. Marc couldn't have been prouder at that moment. We were both grinning with pride and humility in our son.

As we were walking by the stands we saw a familiar face and she told Marc that Brother had seen her and waved to her as he was running. Tee hee! Too cute. He is running a race, but still takes the time to wave to a friend. He's a great kid.

His last competition was the shot put. I panicked a little because, along with Fragile X comes the low muscle tone... and if you've seen Brother, he doesn't look like he has much muscle. So watching him throw a heavy ball I was just worried it would land on his head or his foot or someone else...

His coach is awesome!

I have no idea what his distance was, but I do know that it wasn't far. I didn't care. He threw that heavy thing and it went well beyond the the standing circle. He was so proud.

After it was all said and done, Marc and I just had to keep saying to each other what a great experience it was. We had to keep looking at the pictures and video and remember the cheers as he ran. At dinner time Brother wanted to see his pictures, he didn't give a lot of expression, but you could tell he was very proud of himself.

What a GREAT day! What a great son!