Weak but lifted

Cassidy was not feeling too well this morning. However, her spirits were immediately lifted when one of her most inspiring role model, Stephanie Dixon came visit her all the way from Yukon. Stephanie Dixon also brought along many special surprises for Cassidy. 

The first one was a special guest- Pachi, the 2015 Toronto Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Mascot. Pachi stayed a little while to spend some time with Cassidy. He danced and made everyone laugh. Cassidy really enjoyed his company. 

The next special guest was Adam, a friend of Stephanie who was a relay torch bearer for the 2012 London Olympics Games. He brought along the 2012 London Olympics torch for Cassidy to see, so that she could feel what it was like to hold the torch. Cassidy was impressed by how heavy and beautiful the torch looked up close. 

Stephanie brought three beautiful gifts for Cassidy. The first one was a Canadian Olympics scarf to keep her warm this winter. The second one was super special- it was a Canadian team jacket signed by all the Canadian Paralympics swimmers from the 2012 London Olympics, making Cassidy an honorary team member of the Canadian Paralympics swim team. The third gift was a sentimental gift handmade by Stephanie herself. It was a picture frame with a picture of Stephanie and another picture of Cassidy standing in their swim gear. The word, “Fearless” was handwritten at the top. Stephanie expressed that she wanted to make this for Cassidy, as she felt they were both very similar as fearless swim competitors. 

Stephanie brought along three metals, one gold, one silver and one bronze, each one from a different Paralympic games. She told Cassidy about the story of her first gold medal at her first Paralympics games. Stephanie was 16 years old and it was her first competition watched by many thousands of people. She described how she was very nervous, and her focus was on trying to beat other girls, and what other people were doing. When she dove into her first race, she told Cassidy how, because she was so focus on what the other girls were doing and not wanted to be beat, she actually did lose the race because she was not focused on herself. She went to her mom after the race, who comforted her and told her to just focus on herself and to try the best she could and that was enough. So, in the next race, she forgot about her competitors and just focused on her own race and her own abilities and she came out on top with her first gold medal… Stephanie and Cassidy spent the afternoon talking about their dreams and hopes as a competitive swimmer, sharing their experiences and aspirations.

Thank you to Stephanie Dixon for coming to visit Cass today and all the wonderful surprises and gifts! Thank you for sharing with us your experiences and what is important in our lives! We are the strongest and most fearless when we focus and rely on the love and support of the ones that are important to us......