Win

She ran. Her training had prepared her for this day, and she ran as she had done a dozen times before in practice. A chance mistake in a now unalterable stack of papers said "walk". We tried to prepare her for this change, yet she, caught up in the moment, realized too late that her initial lead could not be undone. First place in her own mind, it mattered little that she was penalized for the initial run and took home the bronze.

She was too excited about the day's events to care about anything other than doing her best, which, unquestionably, she did. Stacked against girls twice her size, she also placed sixth in the softball throw.

So excited she was that, upon calling one of her grandmothers, she could only manage to say was, "I got a win!" That is the spirit that makes these events worth any hassles they may impose. In fact, we all came away as winners.