Fairy Tale Weekend in Clemson

Mission Date: 9MAR2024

Months ago we found out that Chelsea’s gymnastics team would compete at Clemson university in South Carolina. We don’t live close to Clemson but we are barely within drivable distance, making it much easier to get to than USAFA in Colorado Springs. And then… we realized that Clemson was nearly equidistant from us and grandma and grandpa. And then… we realized that Lydia’s spring break from the USCGA was the same time. All the planets aligned and it was decided that mom, dad, Lydia, grandma, grandpa, and meme would descend together upon Clemson university March 8,2024. And then… Abigail was added to the mix when her flight to Spain was scheduled just after the meet. So the whole fam would be together!


Leading up to the meet Chelsea had been struggling with gymnastics dealing with her back and the psychological side affects of that. There was concern that Chelsea might not travel to Clemson. But in the weeks just before Clemson Chelsea’s experienced some significant victories, and she got the green light to fly. And when we say fly, we mean first class flight on a military C-40 (Boeing 737.) 

The travel days, Thursday and Friday, were a wild period including planes, trains, and cars. With only a handful of hiccups, everyone arrived in Clemson around 4pm, three hours before the event. Now we could all focus on our nerves. 

But Chelsea’s performance, second in line,  demonstrated no nerves. She performed each skill on the uneven bars beautifully and then landed perfectly on her two Bigfoot feet. Her score came in at 9.8 and we all rejoiced loudly scaring all the people in the row before us. The rest of us not named Chelsea began to breath again. 




The team was not able to beat Clemson but it was great to watch, and afterwards we all went to dinner  at 10pm and got to sit for hours chatting together, until they kicked us out at midnight.  With so few opportunities to have everyone together, it was a precious time. 

We brought Chelsea some civilian clothes and saw her perform a miracle in front of our eyes. We brought three bags of clothes for her to pick through. But Chelsea, not known for making quick decisions regarding clothing, produced her government issue suitcase which, unknown to us, integrated PYM particles shrinking each article as almost the entire selection of clothing was stuffed inside. 

The last goodbyes with Itty son were said and we retired to the hotel. The next morning all the travelers had breakfast together before we blast forth in three directions from the hotel. Chelsea headed back to Colorado first class. Lydia headed into the great smoky mountains to escape from the world with her friend Hazel for five days. Abigail began her journey to Madrid Spain, and the rest of us headed home to Maryland and Florida  We had a fairy tale weekend at Clemson SC and traded time for precious memories. 








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