Proud nana moment
It was another proud nana moment for me yesterday with Willow coming third in her gymnastic competition. I wasn’t at the event, but Genevieve kept me up-to-date with the scores in real time, along with videos of each performance. I was impressed with how far Willow has come since the last competition and also the fact she only started the sport this year. Of course, their were others competing in more difficult routines at a higher level but it was still impressive that she was able to do so well amongst those with similar abilities.
Having been a gymnast myself, I was aware of the skill levels she has already achieved and in her short time, is already able to do more than me in some of the activities. My favourite was the vault. I just loved that. We only ever had one competition and I performed poorly; a combination of nerves and the fact that instead of our trusty springboard, we competed using a trampoline, something that was unfamiliar to us. In hindsight, I wish we had brought our springboard to the competition.
But there is more to competing than that. As I mentioned above, nerves was one of my biggest downfalls. We are in unfamiliar surroundings, with unfamiliar people. Performing in front of others was always a nerve-wracking experience for me. Willow seemed to handle that part of it with ease. Both her parents are/were talented athletes. Plus, her father had a strong determination that Willow seems to have inherited. Her mother tells me she will practise something until she has mastered it. The bars were her weakest activity in the last competition and the strongest in this one, with her coming third in that as well. She has obviously worked hard to achieve the scores she did.
Seeing Willow at times such as this always brings with it a sadness, the fact that her father is no longer with us to cheer her on. He would have been so proud of her yesterday. I feel for her, that he is not there to say ‘’well done’’, even in times when she may not have performed so well. I think I have talked about this before. I am not sure whether Willow feels a sadness as I do, because being fatherless is all she has really known. Her mother certainly makes up for the shortfall and I feel so blessed to have someone who keeps us in their lives as much as Genevieve does, even when they are back in France.
Though I will miss them when they go at the end of the year, at least I know I will be kept in the picture as I was yesterday. Who else’s daughter-in-law would bother to send pictures in real time, as Genevieve did yesterday. We do need to appreciate the goodness in things. Oh, and by the way, I know Daniel would have been watching yesterday, from his perch in heaven.