With a little less than 2 weeks, we have been in prepare mode. I myself, have thrown my days into working out. One, it distracts me from all that is going on in my brothers life, hey he skates, I'm allowed to train for something too :D and two, it has been allowing me to spread the word around this tiny town about what is going to transpire in the next couple of weeks. I was absolutely shocked at how many people know my brother, read the articles on him in the paper, saw his segment on the Today Show or saw his cute face plastered on the local news stations. It's really been a treat.
I teach fit camp at a local gym, and I'm sure my students are tired of hearing about it, but I brag everyday about him. It's been nice because I have gotten more good lucks and congratulations that I would have ever imagined. Facebook has been the other place to get good luck postings and well wishes. But as we approach the two week mark, I am fascinated as to what my brother is going through and accomplishing. While I miss our stupid texting conversations and musings about how we have no life, I understand that this month and the years to follow are all about him and can't wait to see what is going to unfold in his life. Countdown to Vancouver!!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
3 week countdown
With the Olympics starting exactly 3 weeks from today there is so much going on in a world I have no idea about. While Jeremy prepares back in Detroit and the other men are back home training for their Olympic dreams, I can't help but wonder what is going through their minds. I have read numerous articles on these men and their training regimen and the preparation that they go through, but I seriously wonder what they are feeling?
I have watched my brother skate from the time he was 4 years old. I have seen him skate dance, a short lived pairs
I have watched my brother skate from the time he was 4 years old. I have seen him skate dance, a short lived pairs
season on through his current position as the 2 time US National Champion. I have seen first hand the training that he goes through, the preparation on and off the ice, not before a competition mind you, but all the training that goes into getting ready for those competitions.
I remember when Jeremy was first learning to skate, and he had just learned his first single jumps, and had the most perfect spins of anyone on the ice. But what I remember the most was his shoot the duck, yes you read this right, he had the best and lowest shoot the duck out of everyone. When he would hold that pose and travel across the Aspen Ice Rink, people would stop and stare and then go up and ask him to show them how to the that or how does he get back up for someone so little. He was 6. I sign of things to come?
Most of the time Jeremy was the youngest male skater in the Aspen Ice Rink. They would go to shows and this little kid would come out and skate his little heart out and be either the leader in a conga line, on the tail on a choreographed, sincro circle, or a version of crack the whip. I remember one of his first programs was to the Little Mermaids, "Under the Sea". He made the cutest Sebastian crab. My mom still has those hand made lobster claws.
Thankfully Jeremy has graduated from the Little Mermaid days and the hand-me-down costumes from boys older than him. As he has progressed of the past 20 years it's been really a sight to see. He has really come a long way from that small little boy in the Aspen Ice Rink, doing face painting and home made costumes and dancing along behind people twice his size.
I like to think he has graduated to the front of the pack. He is now the one leading the crack the whips and teaching people that the artistry of figure skating still exists. It's not just about the jumps and spins and footwork, it's an art, a true art form, one that Jeremy has mastered beautifully. Maybe all the shows, and shoot the ducks and lobster claws molded him into what he is today. Maybe it was the "gentle" teasing he had to endure from his sister and his peers. I might add that he has now silenced all of us, though I gave up teasing him a long time ago when I realized how talented he really was.
As we head into Vancouver, exactly 3 weeks from today, I still can't help but wonder what these men are going through. Are they wishing for the days of shoot the ducks and obscurity again, or are they the men they appear to be on the ice, ready to handle anything that is thrown their way? From a sisters prospective, I believe Jeremy will be cracking his own whip all the way to the top!
I remember when Jeremy was first learning to skate, and he had just learned his first single jumps, and had the most perfect spins of anyone on the ice. But what I remember the most was his shoot the duck, yes you read this right, he had the best and lowest shoot the duck out of everyone. When he would hold that pose and travel across the Aspen Ice Rink, people would stop and stare and then go up and ask him to show them how to the that or how does he get back up for someone so little. He was 6. I sign of things to come?
Most of the time Jeremy was the youngest male skater in the Aspen Ice Rink. They would go to shows and this little kid would come out and skate his little heart out and be either the leader in a conga line, on the tail on a choreographed, sincro circle, or a version of crack the whip. I remember one of his first programs was to the Little Mermaids, "Under the Sea". He made the cutest Sebastian crab. My mom still has those hand made lobster claws.
Thankfully Jeremy has graduated from the Little Mermaid days and the hand-me-down costumes from boys older than him. As he has progressed of the past 20 years it's been really a sight to see. He has really come a long way from that small little boy in the Aspen Ice Rink, doing face painting and home made costumes and dancing along behind people twice his size.
I like to think he has graduated to the front of the pack. He is now the one leading the crack the whips and teaching people that the artistry of figure skating still exists. It's not just about the jumps and spins and footwork, it's an art, a true art form, one that Jeremy has mastered beautifully. Maybe all the shows, and shoot the ducks and lobster claws molded him into what he is today. Maybe it was the "gentle" teasing he had to endure from his sister and his peers. I might add that he has now silenced all of us, though I gave up teasing him a long time ago when I realized how talented he really was.
As we head into Vancouver, exactly 3 weeks from today, I still can't help but wonder what these men are going through. Are they wishing for the days of shoot the ducks and obscurity again, or are they the men they appear to be on the ice, ready to handle anything that is thrown their way? From a sisters prospective, I believe Jeremy will be cracking his own whip all the way to the top!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Road to Vancouver
Wow what a week. I have never in my life seen anything as amazing as what my brother accomplished this last weekend. I have run the gambit of emotions as to how I feel about what was transpired withing the Abbott family. I have cried, and still choke up when I recount the events of the last weekend. I have and still have enormous pride for my brother and the label that he now carries, "OLYMPIAN". I am jealous because he has accomplished something that I wanted my entire life to do, be an Olympian. But mostly I am so, so, so proud. There are not enough words to describe how proud I am of my brother.
I have read every newspaper article, cut out every picture of him and printed out more online spreads of him that I ever thought possible. I have shaken more hands and gotten more hugs that in recent years and accepted more congratulations on his behalf than I ever did in my entire skiing career. I was even priviledged enough to get the plaque they give the winner and take it home to hang on my wall. It now sits between a picture of my boyfriend climbing in Thailand and a picture of myself climbing in Spain. It's earned it's place.
With the Olympics a little more that 3 weeks away I am preparing myself fully. I am still running down the streets shouting, "My brother is going to the Olympics" and "I am officially the sister of an Olympian", not to mention my personal favorite, "I'm famous by association". All the fame, honor, glory and respect that my brother now garnishes it truly awesome. I wish I had more money to be able to go to these events he is now getting to experience, ie New York, Italy and various other junkets that he will get to embark on in the next year or so.
So with all that said, I am going to continually update this either daily or weekly, as events develop and write about the Road to Vancouver from a relatives perspective, an insiders view if you will. It is beyond amazing to get to have this experience in the family and quite the honor that I can now blog about it, rather than myself. Well it's still all about me, but now I get to boast about not just me :D VANCOUVER BABY 2010!!!!
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