In the twinkle of an eye

I tried to just post something light and satirical (Bush as a monkey on a train) and walk away, but the need to blog more substantially has become as essential as my morning coffee, even if I get so few comments that I wonder if anyone reads me at all. (What's up with that? I comment on almost every blog I visit.)

I couldn't not talk about Lolo Jones' loss of  the 100-meter hurdles after knocking down the 9th hurdle, losing her sole chance for an Olympic medal in this games, and probably in any (she's 26.)  This is one of those self-made women who was at one time homeless, her single mother holding down several jobs to support herself and her sister, whose excitement and joy turned to shock and disappointment as they watch Lolo from the stands.

In the great scheme of things, the fact that one woman in one race came in seventh instead of first is not a great matter. In the scheme of Lolo's life, it was a moment which will forever be the marker of all that went before or after. How often do we get to witness such an event in someone's life?  It wasn't a gradual disappointment, like the realization over the course of three days that you won't get a promotion, in this picture we witness a dizzying fall that occurred in physical reality far faster than could be absorbed by the brain.

Frankly, I do know that feeling, which occurred in the moment it took me to open the door to the police in February 2004.  Of course, this turned out to be the beginning of my long night's journey into day. I pray and hope that in 5 or 10 or 20 years, Lolo might be able to say, "if I had won, X, Y, and Z wouldn't have happened, and I can't imagine my life without these things, so I am grateful."  .

But of course right now, she can only live and relive that moment where here foot brushed the hurdle and her future went several shades darker in an instant.  If wishing could unmake a moment, surely hers would.  One can only ache for her.

MCO 2008