I am still on quite a high from last night’s big gold medal victory by Team USA Women’s gymanstics! I managed to stay off twitter, facebook and any websites that may have leaked the results early because I wanted to watch and be surprised when it aired on tv. It was great. Such a feel good moment. When the announcers referred to the Magnificent 7 who won in 1996 I could remember everything about that evening. Dad, Mom, Sister K and Me all sat in the living room watching as Kerri Strug nailed her vault to clinch the win- I remember standing up and screaming out of excitement.

This is also another Olympic memory that brought with it another moment of reflection on the past. Thinking back to 1996. I was 12 years old. Sister K was 9. We were still living at home. Only a family of 4. Also having no idea what the future held. Here it is 2012. And things are a little different now. Mom has MS now. At 12 years old I am not even sure I knew Multiple Sclerosis existed and now it is very much a part of my daily life.

Last night instead of celebrating in the living room with Mom and Dad, we celebrated over the phone. I now have a new memory associated with women’s gymanstics winning gold and in 4 more years it may look even more different. In the same way that every 4 years the players may change at the Olympics but the events remain the same, the spectators and fans around the world also change. I don’t know why the Olympics has me thinking about the passage of time so much. I think Mom’s MS has something to do with it. I think comparing memories to the past also has something to do with it. But the lesson I am learning in the process is to cherish every memory- the past and the present because you don’t know what memories of the future will look like. I sit here and wonder what things will look like 4 years from now as I watch the 2016 Summer Olympics and the next Women’s Gymnastics team compete.

Do you ever think about memories of specific events of the past and compare them to the same events today? Did you watch the Fab 5 win gold last night? Where were you in 1996 when the Magnificent 7 won the first women’s gymnastics Olympic gold medal?