A Million Little Pieces Of My Mind

When Gianna's mother, my daughter Jennifer, was about five years old, she greeted me one day when I came home from work by doing a backflip. Perfectly. When, I, in astonishment, asked where she'd learned to do such a thing, she said, "I saw it on television." When I went inside, sure enough, I saw gymnasts on the TV. It was the Olympics!

Fast forward to the present, and Jenny's two youngest, at 4 and 6 years old, both attend gymnastics classes. 6-year-old Gianna takes her gymnastics very seriously, but Dominic just seems to love it. I watch him and see how different it is for him. Modern coaches are supportive. When I was in high school, the gym coach was very old-school, which means teaching through intimidation and humiliation. As a result, I was taught to loathe and fear the activities Dominic so enjoys.

I'm very happy for Dominic.