It Doesn’t Make a Life
On my run today I listened to the Ali on the Run Show podcast where Julia Lucas talks about her “fourth-place finish seen around the world.” In 2012 Julia was competing in the Olympic Trials in the 5k, where she was favored to win. She had a sizable lead early on but ultimately couldn’t hold on, and finished fourth, missing the Olympic team by 1/100th of a second. You can watch the highlight video of the race here. It’s hard to imagine the disappointment of that moment, but you don’t have to- Julia talks all about the race, what led up to it, what happened during and after, on the podcast. She talks about how it changed the trajectory of the next four years for her, and it made me think of my son. My son is a senior in high school and will be going to college next year as a trumpet performance major. Applying to be a music major requires the usual application process, plus an audition. This year because of Covid all auditions and interviews were held by a complicated combination of video recordings and Zoom. Because he had a specific trumpet teacher in mind, my son had a “dream school” at the top of his list. He spent the year doing everything in his power to make that happen, including taking lessons and establishing a relationship (again via Zoom) with the teacher and re-taking his SAT’s specifically so that nothing would hold him back academically. After his audition the teacher gave him every reason to believe he would be accepted, and we all made plans (in our minds) of how this school would be a part of our lives for the next four years. I’m pretty sure you know where I’m going with this… the big day of college decisions finally arrived, and he was rejected. It was one of those moments as a parent that just hurts your heart. We know it’s good to build character and learn Important Life Lessons, but it was so hard to see. My son took it extremely well. Better than I did, actually. I’m still angry at how the whole thing played out (as a matter of fact the other day I was doing a Google search for a running website, and realized I had unconsciously typed the name of the school into the search bar. Ha ha… time to move on, Mom!) Back to Julia. As one would imagine, nine years later she’s built an amazing and fulfilling life as a running coach and writer. Of course going to the Olympics would have been incredible, but as she said “It doesn’t make a life.” So what does make a life? My son is in the process of sorting through the schools where he has been accepted and making the big decision for where he’ll be next year. He got his Moderna shot yesterday, the first step to getting a normal social life back (he and his friends are all getting vaccinated and plan to have a “fake prom.”) He’s thinking of buying a car, and is enjoying re-watching all the Harry Potter movies. Big wins, big losses, and all the moments in between. Has anyone listened to that podcast? Can you imagine missing out on the Olympics like that? (Although, there’s always a fourth-place finisher!) People with kids… it gets harder and harder the older they get, right???