The end for Emily :(

Some of you probably remember back in early November that Emily sprained both of her ankles, one of them quite severely. She just finished physical therapy a couple of weeks ago, but she is still having some pain and limited mobility. Her meet season is already half over, and there is no guarantee that she will be healed enough or prepared enough for even the last two meets in March. She spends 23-25 hours a week practicing, which leaves virtually no time for other activities. That's a lot of work for the possibility of no competitive season, and this is her senior year. So Emily made the tough decision to hang up her grips. She will keep her part time coaching job; she enjoys that very much and the hours are easy.

She had a wonderful career. She was a very late-starting competitor at 12 years old, but still went on to compete for five years in levels 4-8. She was a state champion in every level she competed at, and qualified and competed in regionals as a level 8. She was a member of two state championship teams, level 6 in 2005 and level 8 in 2008. She was on the top qualifying team for Nebraska for the Region 4 regional meet in 2008.

I think she is absolutely making the right decision. Her stress level is already way down. Now she can focus on school and family before leaving for college in the fall.

But I still feel a bit sad. Gymnastics was a wonderful thing that my two daughters and I shared, and now we are just... done. It feels strange. But life moves on, doesn't it?