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My crazy world cup season

February 25, 2009 03:19 PM | Posted by   Heather Moyse  

So, the world fup season is finally over. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true.

It’s been a pretty crazy season: one gold medal, one silver medal, one crash in a race (when sitting in second), one fifth place, and then finishing this past weekend with a fifth place finish at the World Championships in Lake Placid, NY.

Fifth place. Well, what can I say? Kaillie and I pushed the 2nd and 3rd fastest start times, and Kaillie had a great first run, getting the track record for the fastest ever downtime!

However, just like the Olympics, World Championships consist of four heats – two heats over two days – which makes the race a competition of consistency. Kaillie has proven to be a good driver, but consistency comes with time and experience, and with one bad 2nd heat which dropped us in position, I have no doubt that she’ll improve on that over the next season.

I really enjoyed racing with her and look forward to more great results from all of our Canadian sleds.

Canadian Championships coming up

Well, I guess the season is not quite over yet. We have two weeks off and then we fly back to Whistler for two weeks of training and the Canadian Championships. It feels a bit anti-climactic, however, because nobody will be doing any physical training and our World Cup Circuit and World Championships have already happened.

So, you may be asking, what am I doing for these two weeks? Well, Kaillie and I hopped on a train a couple of days ago and headed for New York City. Yesterday, we walked half of the Brooklyn Bridge, went to the 911 Memorial Site (although it’s closed for construction), did a bit of shopping, went to a show, and then ate at a restaurant/bar while they blasted great music and celebrated Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras).

We ordered a Manhattan drink because we’d heard about it on Sex and the City, and seeing as we were in Manhattan, thought it was very important. It was terrible!

Today we have another show and the New York Knicks game planned for tonight, and then tomorrow Kaillie will go back to Lake Placid to support our men’s team and I will fly back to PEI to spend the next week and a half with my parents.

In my last blog from Whistler I mentioned going home to PEI for a week because I wasn’t racing in Park City. Well, it was because my grandmother (96 years old) had found out a couple of weeks before that her cancer had returned, and she had had a very bad couple of days. Because she had perked up quite a bit, she insisted that my parents still go and support me in Whistler because of how important family is to all of us.

I had a pretty tough time with that decision, worried that something would happen while my parents were away, but I should have known that my grandmother would wait!

Visiting my grandma at home in PEI

My parents arrived on Tuesday and that night I spoke with my uncle back home who told me that she was doing better. I asked him to tell my grandmother that I was “being sent home by the coaches to rest and train before World Championships” – not that I was leaving the tour to go and see her!

She was a woman full of pride and grace, and everyone who knew her was blessed and had the utmost respect for her. She loved her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren very much, and kept up with everything we all did. She was proud of all of us, and I miss her terribly.

I flew home on February 8 and was able to spend a couple of hours with her that evening. The next day my mother and I spent most of the afternoon and evening with her and then she asked if someone could stay the night with her. I stayed with my grandmother all night and was blessed to be sitting up with her at the side of the bed when she died.

It was a very tough week for me, and difficult to deal with fact that it was I who was with her when she died. However, I realize now that I wouldn’t have had it any other way. My grandmother – Florence Manuel Smith – was an incredible woman and an amazing role model. She died peacefully on February 10. May she rest in peace, and may her family and friends remember her forever.


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