The Olympics

I love the Olympics and have loved them since I was a little girl. My mother and I would watch them, from the Opening Ceremony to the Closing Ceremony. We watched everything: the bobsled, ski jumping, luge, curling, ice skating, all of it. We weren't just ice skating elitists. Oh no, we knew the names of the big stars in every event. Winter and summer, every four years.

I especially remember the Olympics because of my mom. She was interested in lots of things and gave me her love for them. Being with her, watching and talking about the events afterward, what memories! We watched all kinds of sports, not just the Olympics. I learned to enjoy golf and tennis and basketball and, of course, baseball. During school, I listened to the World Series with my transistor radio and earbuds. I was a Yankees fan and fell in love with Roger Maris, mainly because he was my Mom's favorite player.

My mom did homeschooling before the concept was invented. We lived in a very small town and all my friends started school before me. So my mom bought the textbooks for elementary school and taught me at home. I was reading when I was three. She hired a piano teacher when I was four. We studied comparative religion when I was five. And learned to swim. All because my mom did not accept the rules. Mom also taught me to love opera. She took me to museums and to plays. We read Shakespeare's plays out loud. She opened the world to me and gave me permission to explore it.

Mom didn't see why little girls shouldn't love sports. Mom didn't accept that a child had to be six years old before learning how to read and write. Mom knew that minds can be trained to be curious. Mom found a million ways to play rather than do housework. What a woman! So that's why I love the Olympics, and why my daughters love them, too.