![A logo for "50 Happens," [a site dedicated to Gen X women with children and grandchildren] [who embrace life's challenges with humor and resilience], [featuring a modern and uplifting design] [that embodies strength and positivity] [with an elegant and playful style] [and a harmonious blend of colors like pink, fuchsia, purple, and blue].](https://50happens.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/img-5uorrxvwartomopcpuhjfjd0.png?w=300)
I was not a jock. I played some competitive tennis and ran a bit of track, but I never played any true team sports. I was a good swimmer and eventually a lifeguard, but swim racing was of no interest.
I loved both of the dance-y sports—gymnastics and figure skating—until they got hard. At one point, I could do both front and back walkovers and a front handspring. (A back handspring was too hard.) In skating, I progressed to the point of doing one competition in a hand-sewn skating dress made by my mother. Figure skating to music was fantastic and freeing, but I did not enjoy being judged.
My Olympic heroes were Nadia Comaneci (the Romanian gymnast) and of course, Dorothy Hamill. Both made their marks at the 1976 Olympics when I was ten or eleven. Nadia with her perfect tens was a bit of a mystery because she was from a Soviet block country, but Dorothy was EVERYTHING. All-American and perfect in every way, she was the ideal. And yes of course, I got the haircut, but it never looked as good on me (or really anyone other than Dorothy). She was America’s best Olympic hero ever and I will never be convinced otherwise.
So yeah, give me the opening & closing ceremonies and figure skating in the winter, or gymnastics in the summer, and I’m good.
50 Happens 