Ellen is from Alabama, Southern Alabama, within a couple of hours from the Gulf Coast. When I first met her, she was in her 40’s. She had not grown up at KDS but came as an adult. She had an excellent family was accustomed to enjoying many life experiences. She had not been sheltered and was very personable and I loved chatting with her. She would watch the news and was aware of current events. She had good, logical opinions, even though generally her thinking was child-like and simplistic (she got the gist of most issues better than others.) Her speech could be difficult to understand, especially if she was in a hurry, upset, or excited. She tended to say the same phrases two and three times (mostly out of habit from years of people replying “huh?” to her as she spoke.)
ELLEN: Mr. Geil did you hear Payton Manning is going to college at Tennessee, Payton Manning is going to college at Tennessee, Payton Manning is going to college at Tennessee?
ME: Yes Ellen, I did. Do you like Payton Manning?
ELLEN: Yes. His Dad is Archie Manning, Archie Manning. Archie played at Ole’ Miss, Ole’ Miss, Ole’ Miss.
A major area of activity for KDS is involvement with Special Olympics of Tennessee. Here is some info about Tennessee Special Olympics:
Special Olympics Tennessee conducts 17 different sports throughout the year. SOTN supports 32 area programs that include all Tennessee counties. Area Programs are lead by volunteer teams, who recruit and train athletes, conduct local and area competitions and raise funds to support their efforts. Full participation is granted to every athlete regardless of his or her economic circumstances. Over 14,500 Special Olympics athletes are registered with Special Olympics Tennessee.
Special Olympics Tennessee offers the following sports: Alpine skiing, Aquatics, Athletics (Track and Field), Basketball, Bocce, Bowling, Equestrian, Flag Football, Golf, Horseshoes, Powerlifiting. Roller Skating, Soccer, Softball, Snowboarding, Speed Skating, Tennis, & Volleyball
Special Olympics Tennessee offers the following sports: Alpine skiing, Aquatics, Athletics (Track and Field), Basketball, Bocce, Bowling, Equestrian, Flag Football, Golf, Horseshoes, Powerlifiting. Roller Skating, Soccer, Softball, Snowboarding, Speed Skating, Tennis, & Volleyball
The Tennessee Spring Games is a high light of the year for many of the Special Olympic Athletes. Several hundred participants and coaches from all over Tennessee come to Vanderbilt University the third weekend in May. There is competition and dances and food and a huge opening ceremony/concert at the Vanderbilt football stadium. All of the areas and teams march in just like the International Olympics then sit up in the stadium stands. An Olympic torch is run around the stadium and a “bowl-o-fire” is lit on the huge stage. A famous country music star (like Randy Travis) sings the national anthem and the whole evening culminates in a concert (usually another Country Music Act.)
In the middle of the ceremony a “Special Olympics Athlete & Coach” of the year are presented. There are many sports to be involved in and the criteria is not on winning but commitment to training and participation and attitude and effort, things that Special Olympics values. The Athlete of the Year carries the torch, receives a plaque, has their picture taken and a gets a standing ovation at the Opening Ceremonies. Ellen wanted to be “Athlete of the Year.”
Ellen was not small. She was rather large, which has no bearing on being Athlete of the Year. But she wasn’t very committed to a healthy life style or even a very active lifestyle. Her event was the 50-meter walk.
Part of all the adults weekly routine at the residence was to walk several times a week, so Ellen would do that. To prepare for the Spring Games Ellen may walk a bit more a couple of weeks prior the qualifying local competition. She would then walk at least one (sometimes two) qualifying heats at the local meet, then one (sometimes two) actual heats at the State Spring Games. So for the year Ellen may have walked (at the most) 200 meters in competition. The athlete of the year generally was a year-round participant in multiple activities and was involved in other ways as well not related to direct out-come performance but about commitment and good sportsmanship and attitude.
In Ellen’s mind, she thought it was like the lottery. She perceived that all the athletes names were put into a hat and one was just randomly pulled out and that was who the Athlete of the year was.
Ellen began to perseverate on being Athlete of the year over a number of years. It first started as the announcement was being made:
ANNOUNCER: And the Athlete of the year is…..
ELLEN: It might be me, it might be me, it might be me.
ANNOUNCER: Ronnie Smith!
ELLEN I might win next year.
The next year Ellen Started talking about it a month prior at the local competition:
ELLEN: I might Athlete of the year this year, this year.
ME: We’ll see, Ellen.
ELLEN: I might, I might, I might.
Then she started talking about it all year round. That’s when I had to attempt to let her down a little without totally crushing her dreams:
ELLEN: I might win Athlete of the year this year, Athlete of the year.
ME: But even if you didn’t win, it’s still fun to compete and go to Vanderbilt and see the concert and eat the meals. All that is really fun even if you don’t win Athlete of the year.
ELLEN: But I might win, I might win.
ME: There are several thousand athletes in the state. They would all like to win, but there is only one person who gets to be Athlete of the year. All of those other thousands of athletes are very happy to compete and they are not disappointed when they are not Athlete of the year. Even when you are not Athlete of the year it is still really really fun to be in Special Olympics, right?
ELLEN: But I might win, win.
One year we began getting some phone calls from Ellen’s family asking how they should send the extra money for Ellen’s new dress when she received her Athlete of the Year award. And, when should they arrive from southern Alabama so they could be in attendance to watch her receive the Athlete of the Year award. Ellen had convinced herself over a period of years that this was the year she was going to win. She had called her family and told them.
I had known Ellen for a number of years at this point and I felt like I was her friend. I also was very frustrated and I wanted to settle this once and for all.
Now, I am not proud of the way I handled our next interaction, but this is how it went:
ME: Ellen I need to talk to you
ELLEN: About me being Athlete of the Year, of the Year?
ME: Ellen, You’re not going to be Athlete of the Year.
ELLEN: I might, I might.
ME: No you won’t Ellen. You only want to do the 50 meter walk as your event and you don’t want to do anything else, which is fine, you don’t have to do anything else. But the Athlete of the Year has to be more involved. It’s good what you are doing and I’m very happy with you, but you are not going to be Athlete of the Year.
ELLEN: But I might, I might.
ME: Trust me Ellen, You won’t. You will not win the Athlete of the Year at the Spring Games.
ELLEN: I might.
ME: (Getting shrill, because I keep having this same conversation for like two years) No, you won’t. You’ll never win Athlete of the Year. Never in 100 years. You’ll never win, never ever, ever.
ELLEN: I might this year, this year.
ME: (Getting ridiculously hysterical) I already know that you haven’t won. They decide weeks a head of time and they notify the team if the athlete has won or not. Mr. Willis has nominated you for the past three years and I can guarantee you YOU WILL NEVER WIN. Not as long as you live. EVEN IF EVERY OTHER SPECIAL OLYMPIC ATHLETE WAS ROCKETED TO THE MOON AND YOU WERE THE ONLY ATHLETE LEFT ON THE EARTH THEY WOULD JUST NOT HAVE AN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR THAT YEAR BECAUSE YOUUUUU WIIILLLL NEEEVVVEEERRREEERREERE WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!
ELLEN: ……………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…but I might win.
Later Mr. Willis (who was the KDS residential director and in charge of our Special Olympics program) said, “I think I’m going to get her a convertible, slap a tiara on her head and driver her around the Columbia town square and declare her Special Olympics Athlete of the World.”
Ellen did not win Athlete of the Year that year, nor has she won since.
She did however win the coveted, “I Can Outlast Mr. Geil in an Argument” Award.
Hope Springs Eternal.
chris
To learn more about Special Olympics: http://www.specialolympicstn.org/
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