Do You Remember When..

[kristilyn73]

When I first visited 'Chalk Bucket' my DD was working through fear. She had lost her BHS on Beam (even though she had the skill for almost 2 years)

One thing that really helped for me was this site, and for her was to watch the Video 'Do You Remember When' which I found on this site.

Watching it for the first time made me cry, then DD watched of course she cried...

She proceeded to show her team mates.. I showed the teammates Mom's... All cried.

After leaving a meet a couple months ago where DD didnt feel like she did her best we were in the car and all of a sudden she is crying and texting. I look over and ask why she is crying.. She says.. this is the song from 'Do You Remember When'. She was sending texts to all her teammates telling them to turn the radio to that station.

Now the song 'Bleeding Love' is played on the radio, a lot. Every time it comes on.. you see the whole optional team stop.. look at each other.. Then wipe a few tears away. If they are not at practice, they text each other!

I think it is really neat that one video, one song, can produce so much emotion and bring a team together!

[cfg]

That is tooo sweet. I enjoyed the video too.

[gymmomntc2e6]

I loved that too - I need to find it again so I can watch it again w/ dd.

[gymnasticsbabie]

I-Heart-Beam made that montage!! she's on chalkbucket. heres the link! http://youtube.com/watch?v=5ACPSechyzs

[gymgymgymnast08]

That is video is amazing! I've showed it to a couple of my teammates. I always watch it like right before a meet

[gymjourneymom]

I have to say that I-Heart-Beam has to true gift! She has created a beautiful montage that has touched MANY people I have been passing it around our gym, many parents have come up to me saying it made them cry too. Truly a display of what it's like for our dd's day in day out. Thanks I-Heart-Beam

[gracefulone]

I love that video. I wrote a poem that was kind of the same idea, and gave it to my team. Most of them told me they had it framed.

Fun to Fly
Somewhere behind the athlete you've become, the practices, the coaches who have pushed you, the meets you've competed in, the long time dedication, and the friendships you made along the way, there's a little girl who just thought it would be fun to fly.

Do you know her anymore?
Can you even remember her?

The little girl, mesmerized
By the leaping, the tumbling, the swinging.
Watching the older girls’ every move.
Wide-eyed.

The little girl
Who was so fearless,
Willing to do whatever it took
To be just like them.

Well now you are one of them.
But she’s not.
She’s still that same little girl.
You made it. Good job.

Along the way, though,
She got lost.
Lost in all the competition.
Lost in the fear of new tricks.

All of a sudden
A hard worker replaced the free dreamer.
Admiration became competition.
Just wanting it wasn’t enough.

Flight didn’t just happen,
It was precise and calculated.
And that scared her away.
And you let her go.

Maybe you even forgot her.
You had new friends,
Learned a good work ethic.
Dreaming stopped being important.

But it shouldn’t have.
The dreamer and the worker
Don’t have to be separate.
They are even more powerful united.

Find that little girl in you again.
The one who just wants to fly,
The one who isn’t afraid to let go,
And be all she can, do all she can.

She’s there. She’s waiting for you. She will never grow older, wiser, stronger, better. But you can, and will. She needs you, almost as much as you need her. Find her. Hold her close. Let her live through you. Do all your new skills with her. Fly for her.

And 'Bleeding Love' is such an amazing song.

[I-Heart-Beam]

Thank you so much!!! I'm just glad you liked it!

[tumbler807]

wow. great video. i didnt tear up until close to the end where you "see the little girl watching you". thats exactly how it is at my gym. all my old best friends quit a long time ago, im the only optional, and the only one above the age of 13. i could definitely relate to that, thanks for sharing!

[gracefulone]

Every time I watch I find another story in it, another relation to my life. I think about the girls I coached at some point and how when they see me as a gymnast, practicing, they applaud for things like a front tuck on tumble track or the handspring vault I've been doing for 5 years. They come running up to me, telling me how good I am and how they want to learn flips like that. I smile and tell them to keep practicing, and that they can do anything. I also think about some of my friends who quit, due to mental blocks that couldn't be broken, and even my own sister who got tired of the frustration and of always being in my shadow. It reminds me of my passion and love for the sport; something seriously important right now when I'm balancing 20+ hours of workouts between track and gym (state's in two weeks!), not to mention homework and the state violin competition soon approaching. Sometimes I think I can't do it anymore, or that I'm not good enough, but one hug from an adoring fan can really change all that. Or even the level 3's, 4's, and 5's whom I catch copying bits of my floor routine, and the level 6 who calls me her role model(even though she will soon be better than me) Another level 6 who lives near me, and came trick or treating at my house just to see me. I never realized how many lives I touch just by going to practice. I do a 'quote of the week' for my optional team, and their parents have told mine how those quotes are so important to their daughters.

It's just amazing.