You really can't tell from the top photos, but there were rows and rows of spectators, and I was actually at the back. Only 2 seconds on that podium, and she spotted me with her huge grin. I really can't even describe how that makes my mother heart feel. That in this room full of people her eyes were searching, searching, until they found mine, so that together, we could celebrate her success. I know this makes me a bad gymnastics mom, but the following is the memory I will take with me from her very first season of competition: It was her first meet. Rebound. Just before Christmas, and I think, as the coaches explained it to me, the purpose was to get out all the nerves before some of the bigger meets began. We had checked her out of school early, spent the afternoon removing nail polish, and slicking her hair back. She was dressed up in her competition leotard and warm ups as we entered the gym. She spotted her team and with giggles and jumps headed over. I watched her as she jogged away, her team backpack literally stretching from her neck to the back of her knees. Soon enough it was time for open stretch. The girls from all the gyms began to run in a big circle around the floor. Most had done this before, old hat. But Lily was literally giggling the whole time. Eyes wide and sparkling, and each time she passed by us she would insert a jump and frantic waving our direction. I couldn't take my eyes off her. She was perfection, she was adorable.
