Lisa A.

The Race & the Lesson

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My son Jacob in red and blue! He made the El Paso Times daily newspaper web site on Wednesday evening. His teacher is in the red. A special thank you goes out to Victor Calzada for taking this great photo. Photo from www.elpasotimes.com

Hi everyone! My son Jacob ran at his annual track meet on Wednesday. Hundreds of El Paso students competed in the James Butler Spring Games. The games honor the memory of former special education teacher James Butler. In the past, Jacob has been first place in the 100-meter dash twice. Unfortunately, he wasn’t first place this year. Jacob ended up being fourth place. Me and my family are still very proud of him. However, Jacob was devastated. Right after the finish line, he couldn’t hold back the tears.

I hugged him and said he did well. He didn’t believe me and kept crying. It didn’t help that his classmate won first place and kept rubbing it in. The boy followed us and kept saying, “I got first place!” I said it was great for him and congratulations! I also told my son to say congratulations to him. The boy told my son not to cry. He even gave him a hug! Not winning is a hard lesson to learn in life. I’ve been in the situation plenty of times. I participated in cross country and track for years. I’ve always wanted to run a marathon but it hasn’t happened yet. In the past, I sometimes had issues with not winning. I can see where my son gets his competitive edge from. His father was a tennis champion in high school.

The good news is my son wants to join track this year. I want to encourage him to do it. I would rather have him compete in track instead of football. I love football but not for my son! He asked me if he could do flag football so that might be another option. The photo above made my son’s day. He was excited when I showed it to him after work on Wednesday evening. Getting fourth place became a thing of the past for him. It’s great when kids can get over heartache so quickly. I sometimes wonder why it takes adults so long to mend a broken heart and get over hurtful past events.

For more info., check out: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2016/03/23/james-butler-spring-games-turn-30/82171688/

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Published by Lisa A.

Hello everyone! My name is Lisa Amaya. I'm a 30 some year old mom to one son. My blog is about my life, entertainment, current events, people and events in my hometown, El Paso, Texas, etc. My blog will also feature pieces about Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and surrounding areas in New Mexico. I also hope to include more travel blog posts. Guest bloggers will also contribute from time to time! I've been a writer since I was 6 years old. I graduated from New Mexico State University with a degree in journalism. I've written for various newspapers and magazines. I plan on focusing more of my time on blogging and freelance writing. I took a five-year break from writing but I'm back at it! Thank you for stopping by and welcome!

40 comments

  4. A beautiful story of a wonderful mother and her doting son 🙂 Thanks for sharing this with us Lisa. Often in this generation, people lose their compassionate nature in competitiveness. And when kids do that, it is the responsibility of elders to correct them.But what happens in most cases is the elders also fall a prey to this. I admire the fact that you asked Jacob to congratulate the other kid 🙂 And it is also great that Jacob did not lose heart and is joining track 🙂 ❤

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I thought it was Special Olympics. I’ve coached them a while back in NY. They have the Special Olympics and Special needs for those with above and below the knee prosthetics and they are fast, have expensive equipment and use the blocks.

    Liked by 1 person

  33. It is so hard to see the own kid suffering from their experiences and not being able to do anything about it. They have to deal with life at such a young age. That is why experiences in those ages are rooting so deep. But it is really great that he made the fourth place! Wow!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  34. They’re all different ages from elementary to high school. These games are similar to the Special Olympics. Some of them also walk or use their wheel chair. My son is special needs because he has learning disabilities. He’s 10 years old. They don’t use blocks.

    Like

  35. I’m not sure what level or age of the athletes. But in the 100 a start is the key. If using of not using blocks. Feet should be about a foot apart and three quarters wide. Then keep his head moving with his set position and not looking forward

    Liked by 1 person

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