8 Gold Medals

Wow.  What can anyone say about Michael Phelps?  And he is owned by an English bulldog!

I looked at Murphy last night, sleeping on the porch, and I thought about how she could have won 8 gold medals.  She is an amazing athlete.  Even now, she still tries.  This weekend she found a deep pool and tried to swim.  She wanders around, but still, tries be the sport she has always been.

I realize Murphy is as good, if not better than Michael Phelps.  She doesn't have endorsements, lots of money pouring in, a coach who knows how to motivate her, high-tech uniforms.  She has me, Sage, the people who love her, her many friends.  She has us.  And I think, no, I believe, that she is here, still struggling, still trying, because of us.  We are the pictures on her locker door, motivating her every day, to get up, to eat, to sleep on the porch, to keep going.  

Every day, she gets 8 medals.  She stands on the podium, listens to the National Lab Anthem, and I cry.

Murphy's day.