Friday, February 26, 2010

Strength through sorrow ... "Be tough"



"Be tough."

One young lady during Thursday night's ladies figure skating competition at the Olympics had us all admiring her strength in the face of overwhelming sorrow.

Canada's own Joannie Rochette was in Vancouver to skate when her mother, who had arrived to enjoy the Olympics and watch her daughter compete, died of a heart attack on Sunday. How does someone so young overcome something that tragic to skate the long program just four days later?

But overcome she did as she remembered her mother's words: "Be tough." And she won the bronze medal for Canada as she skated an almost flawless program, and ended her time on the ice by blowing a kiss to her dad sitting in the stands ... and then a kiss heavenward as she glided to the sidelines.

Joannie Rochette was an inspiration to those who watched her ... and she was a champion who made her country proud.

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