Saturday was the state Special Olympics cheerleading competition. Sophie’s team bombed. They finished third out of three, winning bronze medals. I found Sophie’s crumbled on the not very clean porch windowsill the next day. No one had even bothered to bring it into the house. A rather sad end to the season, in contrast with last […]

The statewide Special Olympics cheerleading competition is coming up later this week, and the members of Team Tempe are as ready as they’ll ever be. They’ve cheered at basketball games, competed in the regional competition and practiced just about every Saturday since December. A funny thing occurred to me at practice this morning: I’m going […]

“I don’t want to see that woman,” Sophie said sharply as we navigated rain puddles on the concrete path to the little park and rec classroom where they hold practice for Special Olympics cheerleading Saturday mornings. It had been a whole week, but I knew exactly who she meant. I’d been thinking about that woman, […]

I did it. I’ve been talking it about (a lot — apologies to those who have listened to me go on) and today I finally did it. I sent in Sophie’s Special Olympics registration. For cheerleading. What follows is a piece I read last month at an event sponsored by a group called the Lit […]

Just how seriously should I be taking this Special Olympics thing? In some ways, it’s quite professional and rigid. Sophie’s first track & field meet is this Saturday, and two weeks ago we were warned not to miss practice; times would be taken and heats arranged. So we were there, and Sophie did her javelin […]

Pretty much ever since Sophie was born, I’ve kept a running list in my head of clothing items people with Down syndrome should avoid at all costs. These include but are not limited to: top hats, bow ties and overalls. Look, I get that that’s not a particularly politically correct thing to say. But we […]

I am so selfish that I actually had the following thought on Tuesday morning: How dare Eunice Shriver die on Sophie’s first day of school. I know. I’m horrible. But really, for once, I’d love to have a day that  is just about Sophie. Sophie. Not my future Special Olympian, my mentally retarded kid — […]

If it were up to Ray, I’m quite certain there’d be an X Games version of the Special Olympics. He’s my daredevil. The guy hikes Camelback Mountain in the dead of the Phoenix summer; tosses himself and his mountain bike down South Mountain; and last week, he insisted on soloing a climbing route that had recently […]