Go Team!

Jonathan Griffin holds the Flame of Hope with Garda Síochána Deputy Commissioner Nacie Rice & Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland PSNI

My last blog post was quite emotional and blue, I wrote it in the early hours after a long day obsessively watching the events unfold in Japan and felt so sad.  I was on a bit of a downer to be honest and felt guilty that the only bright side of what I wrote about benefited me and my family.
Then along came Sunday morning and I got to see something great which reminded me of the fact that no matter what awfulness happens in life, there’s always something wonderful happening somewhere else.
You know that thing that gets us up in the morning with hope in our hearts.
The something wonderful I got to witness was the launch of Special Olympics Team Ireland at the Convention Centre in Dublin on Sunday morning.
The 126 athletes, who will be representing Ireland in Athens this summer, took to the stage in a whirlwind of cheers, clapping & foot stomping to the Black Eyed Peas song I Gotta Feeling, to launch the beginning of something truly great.
It was moving, in a proper, well up, lump in your throat kind of way.
They were all honest, happy, real people up there delighted to be getting a chance to try their best at something they love doing.
How great is that?  To use one of my favourite phrases – I was gob smacked!
I felt honoured and proud to witness such a positive, fun and exhilarating event.  Not just because the athletes are my own country men and women, but because they are amazing.
From 25th June to 4th July this year, these athletes will compete in 12 sports along with almost 7,500 other athletes from every corner of the world.

The Special Olympics athletes oath is:
“Let me win.  But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt”
With that amazing thought in mind, I encourage you to support the Special Olympics this summer and cheer everyone along; it’s going to be wonderful.
Watch their progress on their web site at Special Olymnpics Athens
Follow on Twitter at Speicial Olympics Ireland
Follow on Facebook at Special Olympics Ireland



Thanks to Bernie & Linda of Special Olympics Ireland for their help in this post.
Picture reproduced by kind permission of Special Olympics Ireland

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Perfect Gal

Earlier this week, I was tagged by the delightful and talented HotCrossMum She challenged me to list my top ten things in my perfect man/woman. There’s no point listing my top ten for a man, because my beloved man is smokin’ hot.   How could I possibly be limited to just ten things that make him perfect?   He broke the mould, I get a toothache just looking at him – Hi Babe, how’s work? Luckily, I have been blessed with a large number of fabulous women in my life.   I really do have a lot of them.   From family and friends, to other mothers I’ve met through my kids, I’ve always got someone to reach out to, be it with a crisis, for a laugh, for a cry, for a moan, for a bitch, or just for a ramble about nothing. So, this should be easy, however again, narrowing myself down to just ten things has been a bit of a challenge in itself, but here goes: My Perfect Woman 1.        Is an honest person, no matter how hard that is.   Even when I do something stupid like wear jeggings.   A
Read more

Hot Cross Mum

Image
The first week of last September was a landmark one for me for a number of reasons. My daughter started school and I reluctantly went to my first parents coffee morning. I had been dreading it.   I felt low and inadequate. There I was, in the restaurant, gripping my son as though I was afraid someone would steal him, his sister had run off to primary school just two days earlier after all and I was delicate. I eyed the table and the introductions started.   As I scrambled to remember names I was sure I would be tested on later, a voice said “and I’m sure you know Hazel Gaynor, she’s Hot Cross Mum”. Well, relief flooded through me as I turned to the lady whose blog I had been following for months and whose commentary on her own life had made me realise I am not alone in my job as a stay at home parent. I was delighted to meet her, but what the hell was she doing at a coffee morning with a blog to write? Surely it takes every spare ounce of energy she has to pull it together week after
Read more

Diary of a 6 Year Olds Birthday Party

Image
Zero minus 48 hours – almost 6 year old is sick, temperature, sore throat, no appetite (this last one bewilders me).   Zero minus 24 hours – almost 6 year old is no better, but fully convinced she will be completely recovered by tomorrow morning so that she can go to school and have everyone sing happy birthday to her. Zero minus 22 hours – of the 21 kids invited, 19 now say they are coming.   This goes completely against the statistics.   Must be a slow social day for 6 years olds. Zero minus 18 hours – almost 6 year old running a temperature of 39.8.   Also, it hasn’t stopped raining for 3 days. Zero minus 6 hours – my little one is finally 6; she thinks she looks taller this morning.   Going to school.   Still running a high temperature, doesn’t look so good, but refuses to accept possibility of being sick on her birthday. Zero minus 4 hours – the bouncy castle has arrived.   It fits in the garden – Just! If any kid bounces over the back of it, they’ll have to s
Read more