At 12:05 PM today, Olympian, Naomy Grand’Pierre will compete in the 50-meter women’s freestyle race at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. This is special for many reasons. Her very existence is a living representation of enduring love and friendship between her father, Reginald, and me. I met Reginald in grade school and we have been friends ever since. Over the decades, there have been stretches of many years where we lived in different parts of the world and lost touch. Yet, even in those years apart, a spiritual bond existed between us that made distance irrelevant. So much so that when we each fathered our first child, both girls, we gave them almost identical names. Reginald named his daughter Naomy and I named mine Naomi, even though we had no contact for several years.
As we both set about raising our families, it hasn’t been easy staying in touch, but as often happens; death reunited us recently when my mother passed away. Without hesitation, Reginald flew down to be with my sister and me in our time of grief. My mother knew Reggie well and loved him. When the race starts, it will have been 115 days, 5 hours, and 58 minutes since our beloved Ruth breathed her last. In that time, there has not been a single day that I have not thought about her. At first, it seemed I couldn't go more than an hour without being consumed with grief. But the shock of loss has dissipated, the healing has begun, and pain is giving way to bittersweet memories. Today, two friends continue to bridge the gap between two generations of strong women: Our mothers, Louise and Ruth, and our daughters Naomy and Naomi. But today is Naomy’s day. Today she will fly through the water and the pride of a nation goes with her. Today, regardless of the outcome, we acknowledge her as an olympian, a role model, and a winner in the truest sense of the word.
Godspeed Naomy!
