 |
| |
|
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
|||
EVENTS
CENTERS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|
 |
The power of family, friends, teammates
Canadian Jennifer Heil, 18, became one of the youngest skiers to win a World Cup medal when she won silver in moguls at the 2001 Mondial Ericsson World Cup event. Nicknamed "Little Pepper," Heil was the 2000 national champion in single and double moguls. Check out Heil's CNNSI.com diary as she trains for the 2002 Olympic Games.
September 21, 2001 I awoke from my after skiing nap to find my teammates watching the news. The first of the twin towers had been hit and was on fire. Still stuck in my dreams of the prior moments, I wasn't sure whether this was real. I shook the event off as an accident. Minutes later the second airplane smashed into the south tower; immediately I ruled out any accident. Hardly able to grasp the events taking place, I felt sick. Over and over I just kept muttering, "This is so unreal it can't be happening. These things just DON'T happen." But sure enough, it was happening. That day in my world, in your world, some humans lay responsible for the mass destruction, chaos and murder of innocent people. And for what cause? Slowly my other teammates entered the room. Shock lay across all of our faces. As the events continued to unravel, we began to get scared. Still perched high in the Swiss Alps at ski camp we were safe, but as we drifted back to our area of the world the emotional tension rose. The afternoon dryland training just didn't have the same appeal. We all dragged each other to the soccer field to do our workout. But no one could move. Finally our assistant coach, an American, called us in. Holding hands we said a prayer for all of the families and victims of the attack. All the Canadians felt the pain of the Americans. Tears billowed up in my eyes while many of the others followed. My heart was racing. Together we helped one another through the day doing the best we could. Looking up to the beautiful mountains, allowing the cool crisp air to run through me, I lifted my heavy heart to take it in. As we continued to train, in that moment sport meant nothing as it had in the prior moments. Sport's daily stress and pressure seemed so feeble. I was simply happy to be alive, appreciating life more than ever before. That day I had learned just how fragile all human life is. Day to day routine, caught in the stress of our own worlds we forget how quickly everything could change. The saying "live each day as though it is your last" suddenly had a new and momentous meaning. The phone rang off the hook that night with all of our family members calling just to say hello. The power of family, friends and teammates overcame any problems encountered in the mogul run or jumps that I had performed that day. The team continued to stick close and support one another. Team dinner and "'80s Theme Night" were among some of the events strengthening our bonds. After being stuck in Europe with all the canceled flights, the distance I felt from the security of home was immense. Landing in Canada felt so good. I am to be en route to Switzerland next month. Hopefully the world will be in a state of order for all lives to continue on as planned. But for now I am happier than ever to be home and spending the time with my family and friends.
--Jennifer
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
