My story begins with my sister, Ellen, as she is standing at the end of the track staying loose and doing form drills. As a girl from another team approaches her, the girl asks if she is from St. T; Ellen then replies “Yes, I am.” The girl than asks “don’t you have a girl on your team who wears a cape? That must be embarrassing.” Ellen shocked by the remark then states “Yes, that girl happens to be my sister.” The girl then awkwardly walks away.
Folks if you don’t know I’m that girl, the one who wears the cape. Comments and stories like this are pretty typical for me. I mean it is quite unusual for someone to walk around in a cape before a meet. It’s just not something you see every day. Why do I wear the cape? Well, it all started when I was in the 8th grade. I originally wore a red superman cape that I had won at Six Flags. When I came to Saint Teresa, Coach Vohland only agreed to let me continue my good luck symbol if I changed the colors to blue and orange.
Then in my sophomore year it became something so much more than just a simple good luck charm. A good friend told me that I was their hero. They said that I had made a difference in their life and made an impact on their heart. This same person may never know that they did the same to my life, because she is no longer with us.
Christina Brinkoetter passed away to cancer two years ago; she was an extremely close friend, as well as a second mother to me. Before she died she told me that I was her hero and that I had to carry on and be strong and no matter what comes my way just keep on fighting. She is the reason I wear a cape at every meet. From the moment I wake up on race day morning up until that final run out before the race, to the split second I finish my race you better believe that I have that cape tied tight around my neck. I wear the custom made capes with pride as I have a patch dedicated to Mrs. B that always reminds me that she’s never too far away.
I can thank another truly amazing person that personally designs and makes all of my capes, Liz Handley. She even surprised me with a new cape this year which was completely unexpected. It was ready just in time for our meet this weekend at the Crystal Lake South Invitational. Our team competed against an outstanding field of both 2A and 3A schools, and still managed to leave the northwest suburbs with a win! Veterans Acres is a tough course, but when the going gets tough the Bulldogs get tougher!
I know we had a lot of support and cheers out there on that course this past weekend but nothing beats the feeling knowing you have a cheering section from up above! This blog goes out to you Mrs. B! Love you and miss you always!
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