Truth be known our swim team had been completely let down by our swimming association who had organized our training camp with such a grocery list of blunders it could have definitely sunk my hopes of a best performance if I was to dwell on it. Convincing myself I was used to pressure and had been able to handle it all by myself time and time again I just couldn't shake the fear and doubt which was now coursing through my veins as I waited for the announcement of my race that night.


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As the shock waves of the race hit me my mind literally shut down. I remember nothing — not a word, not a face — just a complete blank. I missed the entire medal ceremony even though I was physically present because I've seen the photos of myself standing on the podium I have since realized that the mind is so mysteriously complex because the ensuing emotional numbness which immediately blanketed me graciously saved me from a mental meltdown in front of the entire world.

Eventually I returned with 3 of the 5 total medals won by Canadians that year but because none of them were gold they didn't count. The emotional baggage I carried home with me from those Games was now being stuffed along with all the other unaddressed feelings still hiding from my childhood and it was all quickly becoming too heavy for me to handle by myself.

When I eventually saw them the following day at the Olympic Village they brought me a bouquet of flowers in an attempt to say what they just couldn't express in words. Ironically the only time I witnessed them buying flowers was for a funeral and little did we all realize how prophetic the symbolism in their gesture would become. With the many layers of suppressed feelings piled on by the weight of a disappointed nation now heaped on top of it and my fragile foundation built from those thin existential bricks consisting of my false sense of worth rapidly began to crumble underneath me causing me to lose my emotional footing.

Having entrusted myself to a system which seemed to have turned a blind eye to my plight and then so coldheartedly abandoned me to take the fall thrust a fatal blow to the very heart of what I had based my life upon and turned my emotional balance upside down. With no safety net to catch me and my identity and self esteem broken into little pieces left on the cold, hard deck of a Mexico City swimming pool I was now convinced I was a failure and like the grains of an hourglass turned on it's head the sands of my life slowly began sifting in the opposite direction.

I was completely unprepared for the emotional aftermath which I was about to suffer for far too long as a direct consequence of the lack of understanding and support of post trauma which was a virtually unheard of condition back then not like it is today. It all began so quietly, insidiously subtle were the signs of my change.

That's what's so scary about wounds to our psyche, they can't be seen or bandaged to heal like a broken bone can. They creep up on us almost as if behind our backs where we just can't grasp them and deal with them and then they play tricks on us convincing our brains that we are really okay when we're not. They shroud our minds with a blanket of denial protecting us from our reality but at the same time prevent us from seeing the truth which ultimately is our only path to recovery. I know for me it started almost immediately I returned home from the Olympics.

I had difficulty setting any meaningful goals and if I made one I had trouble following through. It was if my willpower had been sucked right out of me and there was a desperate emptiness within me that I was incapable of filling for myself having given away all my power years ago combined with the rawness of the emotional pain I now associated with failure.

This was the start of my frustrating search looking for meaning and fulfillment in all the wrong places taking me another 25 years of struggle and mistakes before I slowly began to understand that I was on the wrong path. Having been conditioned to allow others to validate me and create my identity set me up for total disaster. Trusting and empowering myself to such a tenuous fate could only lead to failure and disappointment as the world outside never had my best interest at heart and could never live up to the unrealistic expectations I had placed upon it.

So on and on I went in a series of vicious cycles repeating the same mantra wondering why they always brought the same old result. Every relationship I entered reflected the same false hope of filling the emptiness inside me that I could not and always ended in sadness leaving me feeling more hollow each time. I did not understand that I had reversed the process and needed to complete myself first.

My first marriage was not difficult to predict coming far too soon after the Olympics however lasting 10 years and bringing us 2 wonderful children Scott in and Shannon in Divorcing in through mutual agreement we decided to split the 2 children with Scott remaining with his father, Ian, and Shannon coming with me from Prince George,to my new job in Vancouver at Sport BC. One of the saddest things I've ever had to deal with in my life occurred over the next year as I witnessed Shannon's mental anguish of the separation between her and Scott, trying everything I could to keep her happy but to no avail.

Finally seeking professional counselling to help her I was advised that her only hope was in reuniting the children and knowing Scott was secure in his home with Ian I decided to bring her back to her Dad and go it on my own. Leaving her was the hardest thing I have ever done and even today as I write these words I feel the ache in my heart once again. It eases my pain to know that my intuition was the right one as today Shannon is happy and secure in her own world, confident and bright with a solid sense of herself and her goals as she continues on her own journey.

After my separation from my children I really struggled with myself and my inner demons. The isolation left me with far too much empty space so I went about filling it with everything I could think of in order to distract my mind from reality. By simply trying to mask the symptoms instead of dealing with the truth only perpetuated the false belief system which was subconsciously driving my downfall.

It was at this point around the summer of when I was laid off from my job at Sport BC due to the recession that I really began to unravel. I began digging up any contacts or friends that had once been chummy with me in my hay days and oddly enough they weren't there anymore. If anything now that I needed them for something they couldn't run fast enough in the opposite direction. I started to feel like a carried the Ebola Virus or something. Maybe they were right in a way. It's difficult and often intimidating for us to confront the things of which we don't understand or just don't want to deal with and our natural reaction is to ignore it in hopes it will just go away on its own.

It's the old head in the sand trick and I was fast becoming the object to be avoided. I wrote letters, spent hours on the phone, cold called old contacts, met bureaucrats from high positions both federally and provincially as well as turning to the sports system not for pity or handouts but to genuinely contribute my effort and experience to help others in any capacity. It became a losing situation as I was intimidated by their power to say no and they defended their territory by shutting me out for whatever their reasons. More than likely I had become a virtual anomaly to them having no previous experience in handling someone such as me and my presence made them feel a little uncomfortable, possibly threatened, or perhaps a little of both.

By now I was really desperate and truly convinced that there was something wrong with me having been turned down for what seemed like years on end. My confidence was so shattered by this time I lived in constant fear of rejection losing my motivation to ever try again. Rationally I knew quitting was a fast track to nowhere but by now I felt I had already arrived so why set myself up for even more abuse? To make matters worse my inner demons had well established themselves in both my mind and body by this time and my struggle with eating disorders which had started around the time of my divorce in had evolved into a full blown case of anorexia.

I was surviving off a muffin a day and battling with panic attacks and phobias which were now occurring with greater frequency and intensity. I was really beginning to feel the full brunt of losing my children by now and by having denied the pain of my loss for so long it manifested itself in my life disguised as physical symptoms acted out by my body. It had gotten so bad I was living my life day to day, hour by hour and was in total fear that the others were right that I had completely lost my mind.

I know firsthand what a fine line it is between the two states of mind where one crosses over it and it has nothing to do with intelligence. There is a false sense of security thinking that education or position in life can grant us automatic immunity, the truth is emotional wounds can strike anyone regardless of the degree of intellect. Having been rejected so many times from old contacts and associations I had made over the years I had pretty much conceded to throw in the towel to acquire meaningful work so I was quickly becoming desperate for anything.

When I went looking for the most menial of jobs by knocking on doors or answering a classified ad the immediate reaction was consistently one of total surprise that I wasn't already employed as a sports broadcaster or represented by an agent negotiating endorsements and commercials for me. They didn't understand that I had already tried but this was Canada and I wasn't a hockey player but just an amateur athlete and like everyone else I needed to work to pay my bills. Each time this happened I would crawl out the door more defeated and depressed than when I arrived.

My resilience had been worn down to the bone and so was my body as by now I was at an all time low of a skeletal 87 pounds having lost over 40 pounds of sinew and muscle. I wondered how my body had kept me alive all those years despite myself, admiring its willpower to survive was a lot stronger than mine as I had given up in my mind long ago.

I was heartbroken not to be able to see my children due to the years of financial struggle and destitution multiplied by the hundreds of miles of distance between us had kept us apart far too often. I was always hoping against hope my luck would change but with every passing year they only grew older and more distant and I more desperate until sadly it was too little too late for all of us.

Deep down I was really upset and disappointed that I consistently kept placing myself in such self defeating situations. Subconsciously I knew in my gut what was required of me however I didn't have the intestinal fortitude nor the emotional reserve left to face my demons head on just yet. By now I had really gone and done it. I found myself literally on the streets of Vancouver, the city where I had once pursued my dreams was at this moment the land of my living nightmare.

I was anorexic, destitute, unemployed just barely hanging on by a thread to my sanity and now homeless. If there was ever a theory of chaos in human form I was it. How could I have fallen through the cracks of society without someone noticing me? I felt so chewed up and spit out by it all and completely bewildered that this could happen to me.

Trying desperately to find some temporary shelter I vowed to myself that I would rather crawl under a rock than go running home to my parents who already were convinced I was sick and self destructive anyway. Besides I did have some pride left as I hadn't seen them or spoken to them in a long while due to the fact that I never reconciled with them.

All the memories of the years holding in my feelings in silent suffering as the little girl with no voice who had tried so hard to please and accommodate my parents had left me feeling so short changed and under-appreciated. On the flip side I can understand their anger and disappointment in me having to watch me throw away all my potential as a child and completely squander my life on a path of self destruction. The only hope I had was to try one last attempt at finding work so I could take care of myself.

Swallowing my pride once again and mustering up my courage I volunteered to waitress at a lounge for tips only hoping that the owner whom I had known through my swim club would take some pity on me and at least give me a chance to earn a few dollars. However he, like all the others just shook his head and showed me to the door. With little or no options left my thoughts drifted to the unthinkable. I followed its intent and drove my car to a solitude little rocky cove where I had spent magical childhood hours chasing over the rocks and dreaming of my Olympic moment. I found a cold wet rock and sat gingerly on its menacing surface silently wondering if I had the guts left to do it.

The soothing rhythm of the water was familiarly comforting and my mind drifted back to the memories of the joy and empowerment I had once felt in its presence as a young girl. Somehow I knew at that moment almost innately that this was not to be my fate. That every jagged piece of my past would somehow fit in to a much larger and more meaningful puzzle and one day I would be able to understand it and comprehend its wisdom which would unfold in my life.

And so I decided to trust my intuition and be patient. I'm so glad I did Because it was fate that my desperate cry for help was answered within a few short weeks in the form of a chance encounter with someone who would change the course of my life forever and change his too. His name was John Watt and he was not exactly a knight in shining armour either as he was carrying his own share of pain and loss when we met. Maybe that is why he could recognize the sadness hidden beneath my once famous smile mirrored in his own. I felt immediately comfortable in his presence. Strangely for me when I first saw him it was like meeting an old friend whom I had known all my life and we were once again reuniting.

The mischievous twinkle in his eye and his warm Irish charm only helped to reinforce my first impression and I knew in an instant that I could trust him. As we shared our experiences together we began to recognize many parallels in our past. Although our experiences were different our paths were similar fortuitously bringing us together at this juncture in our lives. From his very first breath in this world John's will to survive was challenged by the tremendous odds stacked against him.

Born months prematurely in Bangor, County Down a small seaside town in Northern Ireland at barely a pound his fate looked periously hopeless short of a miracle. And a miracle he was as little did the world realize just how brave and tenacious a heart and soul was carried within his tiny little frame. John, along with his parents and 2 brothers immigrated to Canada when he was only 8 growing up in Toronto's trendy Beach area.

He was as hard working as he was loyal. In high school he was the one who didn't tow the line but drove the cool cars covered in surf stickers, wore the neat clothes and was the initiator of legendary parties. He was the lifeguard and all round athlete that lived for hockey and was fun to be around but always earned what he had the hard way never letting his popularity affect his innocent charm.

As happy and carefree as John's past initially appears, he too, had his own set of dark inner clouds which were cleverly obscured by his good humour and laughter but nevertheless cast shadows upon his present. Over the course of John's school years his life at home was less than ideal as his parents were constantly fighting leaving an atmosphere of tension while trying to grow up.

At 12 years old his parents eventually separated leaving John awkwardly in the middle. Feeling sorry mainly for his father and concern for his younger sister and brother thrust John into the role of caretaker. The consequences of this had an immediate and profound effect on the direction of his life. Similar to myself, although under a completely different set of circumstances, he silently buried these feelings trying to deny they ever existed in a desperate attempt to carry on with his life as best he could under the stressful conditions he had been placed in.

Then in the late '70's and early '80's John was hit by a wave of devastating events totally out of his control when he lost 3 members of his family in quick succession. He watched his Dad suffering from cancer rapidly deteriorate and die within weeks of his diagnosis and then less than a couple of months later after losing his father his mother in Sioux Falls, South Dakota was hit head on by a teenager who had been drinking and driving and was killed instantly.

While trying to deal with a bitter divorce and losing custody of his two daughters was laid off from his corporate job a victim of the recession in the early '80's. Having just lost everything he fell onto hard times. John being the caretaker as he was tried to help him as best he could literally clothing and sheltering him to keep him off the streets.

Mental depression with no proper help or support from the health care system in combination with the cocktail of medications he had been put on sent Bill over the edge attempting suicide a number of times and it was always John to the rescue. Sadly though, Bill lost his battle with his sickness on a cold, January night in Belleville, Ontario when John frantically trying to find his brother was horrified and traumatized when he discovered Bill's broken and battered body laying like a crumpled heap in a pool of blood on the frozen ice having just jumped from the bridge high above.

Soon after John sold everything he had in Ontario and with a broken spirit moved to Vancouver to escape the pain of his losses.

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With a string of successful careers in recreation administration and the resort and hotel industry combined with his own entrepreneurial flare John felt confident to try his luck in the west, but like me luck and timing were not on his side either. Although he was in a much better circumstance than I when we first met his risk taking nature coupled with the recession that hit BC in the mid '80's had just cost him his marriage, his home and everything he had built up from his lifetime of hard work.

We knew at that moment we had nothing left to lose and both being free spirited by nature we decided to take off and hit the road. The fact that he showed his faith in me when no one else did and had the ability to see something within me that even I wasn't able to recognize anymore spoke volumes on his compassion and character as a person.

Our journey would eventually take us over thousands of miles across North America and the better part of 2 decades to complete. Despite all the odds against us we were able to nourish a friendship that kept us bonded through the turbulence churned up by our completely unconventional and unstructured lifestyle. Steve was the one who actually heard it. At the alter he realizes he still loves D. J who still has feelings for Steve break up with Matt.

A month after the almost wedding they start dating again. There is bad news for the reunited couple when the Lakers want him to be their foot specialist. He declines to stay with D.

Steve tells her they will back together in six months. After a few months on the job Steve quits his job and moves back home so he can be with DJ. The two were born in the season five episode "Happy Birthday, Babies," on the date of Michelle's fifth birthday. Becky named Alex after a high school teacher who inspired her to venture into a career in journalism, while Jesse chose to name Nicky after his father, for giving him great hair. They have strawberry-blond hair and are fun-loving toddlers, with minor distinctions between them. Nicky is more quiet and sweet, while Alex is more outspoken and mischievous.

They often repeat each other's words. In Fuller House , the twins follow their parents to Los Angeles, and decide to run a fish taco food truck. Jackson Fuller portrayed by Michael Campion is D. When Kimmy and her daughter, Ramona moves in Jackson has to give up his room and move in with his brother Max. Jackson and Ramona don't get along at first but become like brother and sister.

Jackson has shown to be a good older brother to Max and Tommy. Jackson likes to do stunts, and joins the football team to impress Ramona's friend, Lola. He likes to call himself "J. Money" and "Action Jackson". He briefly dates Lola but she breaks up with him for being too clingy. While attending summer school he becomes friends with Gia's daughter Rocki, much to D. The eventually become a couple but at prom when his friends ask why he's with her, he pretends to say bad things about her to impress them but she overhears him in the photobooth and walks off.

She breaks up with him. Jackson discovers he is good at kicking the football and becomes the star kicker on the football team. Max Fuller portrayed by Elias Harger is D. He likes science, and is shown to be a clean freak like his grandfather. She is not thrilled when she has to move into the Tanner family home and change schools.

Ramona quickly befriends one of the popular girls in school, Lola Wong, and briefly dates Jackson's friend, Bobby Popko.

She is an aspiring dancer. Like his aunt Michelle he also loses a parent as a baby.


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  3. Elaine's Story | Mighty Mouse of the Pool, Olympic Medalist in Swimming?
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  6. At the start of Fuller House , him and Kimmy are separated due to his unfaithfulness to her. Fernando begins to miss her and tries to win her back. It works but he ends up finally signing their divorce papers. Though he only does this to repropose which she accepts.

    Introduction

    Fernando retires from his racing career, and moves in. Ten months after moving in, he buys Kimmy's childhood home and moves in with her brother. Matt Harmon portrayed by John Brotherton is D. He originally intended to fill in for his dad while he was away on a trip to India but decides to stay in San Francisco. When his dad retires he has Matt and D. She and him eventually begin dating. While in Japan for Steve and C.

    best Rats images on Pinterest in | Cute rats, Rodents and Cutest animals

    J's wedding, Matt proposed to D. The next day at the wedding Steve calls off his wedding, and D. A heartbroken Matt walks off. He goes on an eight-day vacation and when he comes back to work he tells D. He takes some time off to think, and when he returns he tells her that he will be opening up a new pet clinic two blocks down. He opens his new clinic and tries to sabotage her business as a way to hurt her like she did him. His clinic doesn't last long when him and DJ realize they work better together as partners. Matt eventually starts dating Gia much to DJ's annoyance.

    Lola's father gets a job in Fresno and she moves. Jimmy Gibbler portrayed by Adam Hagenbuch is Kimmy's younger brother. One day he walks into the family's backyard and hears Stephanie singing. The two end up kissing, and are interrupted by Kimmy who informs Stephanie that he is her brother. Jimmy and Stephanie begin dating. When Stephanie gets the news that she can have a baby via surrogacy, she thinks it's too soon in their relationship to ask him to be the father.

    After finding that out from Kimmy, he tells her that he wants to be her baby's father. Kimmy volunteers to be his and Stephanie's surrogate. In the season four finale Kimmy gives birth to their baby girl. Comet portrayed by Buddy is a golden retriever who is a pet of the Tanner family. He first appeared in "And They Call it Puppy Love" where his mother Minnie got into the Tanner family's backyard where she had her puppies.

    Out of the puppies, Comet was the one that the Tanner family kept. Comet's grand pup has puppies and D. He names it Cosmo. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.

    Learn how and when to remove these template messages. This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. February Learn how and when to remove this template message. This article may be written from a fan's point of view , rather than a neutral point of view.


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    Please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information, and removing excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia's inclusion policy. September Learn how and when to remove this template message. Retrieved December 7, Lapidus writer John Tracy director December 6, I agree totally, Romi, cats do offer so much solidarity and comfort. A good way of putting it! Just being in their presence is a calming thing, I think. I am so sorry about Miss Mouse, I know how it feels to lose a pet. My pet cat disappeared new years eve this year. We knew someone had taken care of him so we did everything we could to make sure he was happy, in fact at the moment he is sleeping peacefully at the end of my bed.

    May Miss Mouse rest in peace. Isabel, how amazing to have gotten Darcy back after such a long absence. You must have been overjoyed to see him again. Thanks for your kind thoughts about Miss Mouse.

    Elaine's Story

    I send my condolences to you Lian ,I hope that you are ok and I cannot believe that Miss Mouse ,the beloved pussy-cat that lives with an amazing author has passed away… Miss mouse will be in heaven watching over you and she will always be there for you. Once again I hope that you are OK and that if you need a little laughter , I will be on your door step not literally but theoretically!

    I am okay, though missing Miss Mouse dreadfully. I still find myself saying good night to her every night — and suspect I will for some time! Laughter is always good at such times, you are right. And so is being with friends and taking care of oneself. I keep thinking about my little cat and smiling at the memory of how beautiful and funny she was.

    And every now and then I cry, then go back to smiling. What an odd thing grief is! I am sooooo sorry to hear about Miss Mouse, I must say I felt rather sad too after reading all your posts about her. I know how hard it is to lose a friend: Miss Mouse would be terribly pleased to know that so many people are saddened by her death. And yes, it is hard to lose a friend. I am very sorry about Miss Mouse, Lian.

    She was a VERY smart and pretty cat. And really hate that after only 2 years of knowing her she has went on and she has still made a hole in my heart. I think Lian and Miss Mouse deserves our deepest thank yous for being the best authors in the world! Harry however is doing his best to keep me company, as well as keeping me warm when he lies on me.

    This is areally sad story!