Simple, Silly and Sometimes Serious: Olympic Memories

Olympic Flags and our ticket stubs from the soccer game.

Pretend you are listening to the Olympic Fanfare while reading this. I tried to imbed the audio file but could not get it to work. Bummer.

They are coming! I am so excited. I have always enjoyed the Olympics. And I really like it now that the winter and summer games are not in the same calendar year.

I have always admired the cities with the privilege to host the games. But I never would have thought I would be close to something so historic. So when the 100^th anniversary of the Olympics came to Atlanta – well - it was spectacular!

I barely caught it on camera. They were riding fast!


At the soccer game. Olympic flag at half-staff.

I saw the torch relay in Mt. Juliet, TN right down the road from where my brother lived. My sister was on the Olympic Dream Team, so she scored us some tickets to a concert for the volunteers. I rocked out with James Brown and some other famous people – way cool! She also got us tickets to a soccer game. We traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to watch it, but my husband and I did not care a bit. We drove all day, watched the game in the rain, brought souvenirs and drove home. We left our daughter, who was six months at the time, with my mom. On the way home we drove by the cauldron – more spectacular!

We went to Centennial Park, post bombing, and had an incredible time – again without the baby. We traded pins, purchased a few more souvenirs and overall had an amazing time with thousands of people from all over the world. I heard more languages that night than I thought existed.

I remember being glued to the TV watching as much as possible – the opening ceremonies, all our favorite events and of course, Kerri Strug completing her historic vault and the US Women’s gymnastics team winning gold.

The kids and I visited Centennial Park today. I had not been since Shelby was 2 ½ - that was when we saw our brick for the first time. Going back 14 years later so much has changed – more memorials were built, several playgrounds, an amphitheatre, and reflection pools. The tribute to the athletes is complete. We are planning to return on a day when it is cooler and we can spend more time. Spencer is nursing a sore foot and Shelby was not feeling so great this morning. But they both still enjoyed the park. Being there was nostalgic and I cannot wait for the opening ceremonies on Saturday!