"What a great moment for me, my son, the world. What you have made possible for so many people defies all reason." LOWELL WEICKER, JR.
Former United States Senator

Families

You hear a lot today about the sacrifices parents make so their children can participate in sports. Most of the tales are about driving kids to practices and games three times a week and sacrificing restaurant dinners and vacations to buy them the best-quality equipment and instruction.

Much of that time, energy and money, though, is too often being spent for the parents, who are either revisiting their own youth or attempting to prepare their child for a college scholarship or pro career that, odds are, will not eventuate anyway.

Now imagine you're the mother, father, brother or sister of a Special Olympics athlete. Think of the dreams that were shaken in an instant when you realized that your child was "different." The joy and anticipation that accompanies birth quite rapidly changed to uncertainty and fear. As your child matured, sacrifice and struggle were part of the daily ritual and the stares of strangers cropped up everywhere.. The idea of your youngster becoming the next Michael Jordan, Nadia Comaneci or Michael Phelps faded daily in the face of an unaccepting world.

From the outset, Eunice realized the extraordinary amount of familial dedication it would take to make Special Olympics a success, and so she geared almost as much of her time and energy to encouraging family members as the athletes themselves. There were reasons personal and pragmatic for that; the former stemmed from her own family's experience with Rosemary, the latter because Special Olympics Programs simply weren't going to get off the ground without the support of everyone in the athlete's family.

Hardly a week goes by when Eunice does not get some kind of communique from a grateful parent or loved one of a Special Olympics athlete. The theme is generally this: Special Olympics provided the one ray of hope when families were feeling isolated. This letter, sent to Eunice by a woman named Ana Miyares, was one of the better ones:

"Special Olympics was the answer to my son's life, one

which through sports became the Miyares family fairy-tale

life. The whole family watched how our little boy Andy at age

eight began meeting all the challenges that swimming, tennis,

bowling, and playing basketball came into his life, and we all

joined him with support and encouragement. Andy grew and we

saw him learn courage, dedication, determination, acquire self-

esteem which not only showed in the sports he competed, but in