Over the past two weeks we experienced one of the most wonderful opportunities of our family life! It was one of those experiences that is so unique that words can NOT do it justice. Along with a few other families, we had the privilege of being a host family to members of the Belarus speed skating team to the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. In our home we hosted Vitali, a sweet 34-year-old man with intellectual disabilities who loves sports (especially soccer & table tennis), flags, telling stories of his mischievous childhood, and would have played Wii bowling and MarioCart all night if someone would have stayed up with him! We also hosted Alexander, the delegation's liason/translator, who is from Ukraine and currently a student at BSU. We went with the delegation to train, practice, tour, shop (their favorite activity), cheer them on, etc. By the end of the first week, they had become "our" team, and our love and concern for their welfare was tangible. They have few resources and were not the fastest in their competitions, but we couldn't be more proud of their efforts or feel any luckier than we do for being able to have had this remarkable experience!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
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