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Sad...Another Olympics Comes To A Close (By Johnny Sandusky, aged 11 1/2) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Monday, August 30, 2004
Rated "G" by the Author.
Johnny is sad because the Olympics, which were held in Athens, Greece, ended yesterday, and he didn't get to see the closing ceremonies because he and his family were at a picnic.
I am really sad today. Now that the Olympics, which ended yesterday, are over and done, I have nothing much to watch on tv excepting for boring reruns or cartoons.
This is Johnny. I really enjoyed watching the Olympics; they were nothing short of spectacular, and our athletes did very well. The United States of America got over 100 medals total, making our country (out of over 200) in having the most number of medals, be it gold, silver, OR bronze. Some of the more memorable performances during the Olympics were the eight medals (including six gold) by swimming superstar, Micheal Phelps, the silver medals won by the men's and women's gymnastics teams, the gold medals won by Americans Paul Hamm and Carly Phelps, making it the first time Americans won medals since l984 in gymnastics, when the Olympics were held in Los Angeles, California, and the gold medals won by the women's basketball, beach volleyball, softball, and soccer teams. (The men's teams didn't seem to do so hot this time around. Neither did the track and field teams with the exception of Justin Gatling, and a few others, whose names I can't remember right now. The men's teams stunk; they kept making too many mistakes, and they didn't seem to be into their competitions, not like usual. They let the other teams walk all over them, which made me mad because usually the United States men's teams are a lot better than they were this time around!)
I didn't get to see the closing ceremonies last night because we were at a picnic for adoptive families, and although I had a lot of fun at the picnic, I would have liked to stay at home and watch the closing ceremonies. Maybe it was a good thing I DIDN'T watch them because I usually end up crying my eyes out, especially when they lower the Olympic flag and give it to the country who will next host the Summer Olympics (this time around, it's China, who will have the Olympics in 2008, in Beijing), and the extinguishing of the Olympic flame. But as sad as I was (and I am sure that there were many tears shed there, among the spectators and the athletes themselves), the athletes didn't seem so sad. They were dancing to the music and were carrying on, acting like a bunch of goofy teenagers, and they were having the time of their life. The pressures of competing were now over, and they were relieved that they had made it through the Olympics in one piece (MOST of them did, anyway!). (I know all of this because I watched tapes of the ceremony on the news, and this was what they showed.)
I was wishing the entire time that I was there at the Olympics. I would have loved to have seen Greece and eat Greek food, and also see some of the events, but I had camp, and I couldn't go. Plus it is very expensive to fly to Greece on an airplane, and I just don't have that kind of money. I am only a kid after all! :( But still..it would have been fun! Mama has a friend in Finland, Sari Gustaffssenn, who went to the Olympics, and she emailed mama a few times from Athens, and she said that she was having the best possible time, and that being there was incredible! She said the Greek people were really nice, and she said that she was pigging out on the Greek food, and that the weather was very hot, so hot, in fact, that she ended up getting all her hair chopped off. She said that she now had very short hair, and that mama wouldn't recognize her when she saw her. She was working as a volunteer at the Finnish athlete's area, and she was also helping with the Kenyan athletes, and she said that the athletes were all very nice.
I was also wishing I was at the Olympics because this may be the last Olympics that I will ever get to see, and I would have loved to have that chance of going. I heard a story about a girl, aged 14, who had cancer, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation gave her a trip to the Greece Olympics, where she got to meet her favorite soccer player, Mia Ham, and hang out with them; and she also got their autographs and had her picture made with the whole team. She is now doing better, but I am sure that she will remember this Olympic experience as long as she lives! Hmmmm...maybe the next time the Make-A-Wish Foundation asks me what I want, maybe I can tell them that I could go to the Winter Olympics in Italy in 2006 or maybe, if I am still around, to the Summer Games in Beijing, China! That would be too awesome!
But in the meantime, I guess I will have to go back to being my regular boring self and live out my boring life in front of the video games or going to school, my doctor's appointments, or my p.t. sessions at the hospital! I like my life, don't get me wrong, but at times I wish I were still able to play like my friends or go outside more than I do, and I wish I didn't have to sit in this danged wheelchair all of the time or have all these stupid health problems! At least the Olympics made me forget of all this stuff for a while, and I had the best time watching them! I wish the Olympics could happen every week; that way, I would NEVER be bored while I wait for school to start the day after Labor Day!
~Love, your pal, Johnny, aged 11 1/2. :( >tears< (because the Olympics are now overwith)
Fast moving , varied and interest held story that covered the Olympic story well , at the same time full of visuals and emotion..Karen..
Love and Hugz
Peter
All good thing has to end Karen ...but the love for it will remain!!
Love Tinka
Reviewed by P. Michaels
8/30/2004
Karen, hope Johnny survives and someday gets to be in the Olympics himself. It's not impossible just look at Lance Armstrong! It sad to see all that excitement pass into history. Good write. Thanks.
now we have the republican convention to watch LOL NOT LOL
i hate to see the olympics end, too--athens should get a great big ole gold medal, for getting things ready and for going above and beyond as far as hospitality
and you deserve one, too, for this great write!
see you in beijing :) o, wait--in torino, italy, in two more years, for the winter games! LOL *i'm confused*
Karen you can really tell a great story, through all of your characters, you do a fantastic job. The olympics were great.
I'm sad to see them over too;-)
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I am really sad today. Now that the Olympics, which ended yesterday, are over and done, I have nothing much to watch on tv excepting for boring reruns or cartoons.
