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Back in 1996, I traveled down to Atlanta to attend my very first Olympic Games. In was, to say the very least, awe inspiring. Tickets were tough to get your hands on given the ubiquitous fervor surrounding the entire event here in the United States. For me, the highlights were getting to watch the GOLD medal game with ‘The Dream Team’, the once in a lifetime collection of the greatest NBA stars ever assembled on one team. As well as attending one round of the women's GOLD winning gymnastics tournament, that of course made SUPERSTARS out of many of the young ladies on the team now known as ‘The Magnificent Seven.’ . But there was one member of the team who was completely unaware of the synchronicity that was going to later touch her life in the most miraculous of ways. Her name is Dominique Moceanu, and her story of LOVE and reconciliation is truly SOUL stirring.
And as I found out watching an episode of HBO's REAL SPORTS earlier this week, this event touched and changed the life of another incredibly special young lady who was watching her idol Dominique from her home in a little town in the suburbs of Chicago. But in a way that I could NEVER fathom. Her name is Jennifer Bricker and she was born without legs. Given her birth defect, she was given up for adoption from her birth parents soon after coming into this world.
But she was adopted by a loving couple and raised to have absolutely NO LIMITATIONS. Excuses were not allowed in their household. Neither was the word CAN'T. This couple raised her with an unending amount of courage and self belief that belied the fact that she was born with no extremities below her waist.
Instead, Jennifer grew up in complete reverence of her HERO Dominique Moceanu. So she set her mind on becoming.... a gymnast! Even without legs, she had no limiting beliefs and never allowed the word FAIL to enter her conscious thoughts. For motivation, she covered every inch of her bedroom with posters and pictures of her idol Dominique. In fact, other than their shared passion for the sport of gymnastics, they even shared a similar visual aesthetic.
Inspired by her idol's fearless feats of dazzling physical prowess, only fueled Jennifer's pursuit to become the number one gymnast in the state of Illinois. And ya know what!? Proving that the only limitations we have reside in our mind, Jennifer accomplished her goal and dream, becoming the number ONE rated gymnast in her state while still in High School!! Not only that, she also excelled in volleyball, basketball, and softball as well! To those who witnessed her feats of courage, dedication, and perseverance, she became a local LEGEND!
Obviously an amazingly gifted and talented athlete, Jennifer was also deeply spiritual and intuitive. So one day while staring at a picture of Dominque, she had a heartfelt premonition. She asked her adoptive parents if she could have a talk with them about her birth parents. And it was on that very day that her long held intuitive beliefs were realized. Her parents told her that she was Dominique's sister, given up at birth by parents who were looking to raise a champion gymnist, never having the FAITH that someone born without legs could accomplish such a feat. So for all these years, Jennifer's idol and hero was actually her sister! Deep down, Jennifer was always drawing strength from her now known sister in a way that in my eyes, proves that bonds run deep and that we are all truly CONNECTED AS ONE!
It took four years for Jennifer to muster the courage to actually send Dominique a letter letting her know that she had a sister she never knew about.
Published in Moceanu’s new memoir “Off Balance,” the letter included photos and Bricker’s adoptive papers. Bricker wrote to her sister: “I feel that I have one chance to show you and prove to you that I’m not some crazy person, but I’m sure after seeing all of the papers, you’ll see that I’m serious,” the New York Daily reports.
Moceanu, now 34, recounted to ABC her reaction to the letter, “It was the biggest bombshell of my life. Rage was my first emotion, had my life been a lie? I had this sister that was born who was given up for adoption, and I never knew it.”
When she confronted her parents, they told her that Bricker was born the day after Moceanu’s sixth birthday. Moceanu’s mother, Camelia, said that her husband, Dmitry, forced her to give up the baby, saying that they couldn’t afford the medical care that would be necessary.
“I never saw my baby. I never held her, never touched her, never even smelled her. I desperately wanted to, but your father told me we had to give her up and that was that,” Camelia said.
~~ Excerpt from Kathleen Miles from the Huffington Post.
Ironically enough, Dominique had a very tumultuous relationship with her parents and actually went to court to legally emancipate herself from them, going as far as having a restraining order against her father who she she claimed physical abused her while growing up in their household.
But all the pain and confusion soon dissipated when Jennifer and Dominque finally met in person for the first time. The physical similarities were striking, down to small mannerisms both shared. But it was the SOULFUL connection that was instantly apparent. Proving that LOVE truly has NO boundaries and transcends time and space.
The sisters now share a life that is spent making up for lost time and memories. Yet, according to them, it is almost as though they were never separated in the first place. They both accept their individual Heroine's Journey as their own unique path.
I cried deeply while watching this segment in my hotel room in NY. I thought of my own birth father whom I never met. And how, just like Jennifer, life intervened with a step father who was an angel in human clothing. More importantly, it reminded me how this Journey of life is such a miracle of joyful and unexpected events. Although painful and confusing at times, it is also MIRACULOUS and MAGICAL. If we simply BELIEVE in its majestic power and intent. We often do not know why things happen, and that is part of the mystery and magic that makes this a daily adventure that rivals the greatest stories of MYTH ever told!
Nerdmaste,
Jeffrey Louis Martinez
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