Beloved LEGS....
....I ran into a man the other day. I was leaving the Post Office and he asked me if I box. I told him that I do, but I don't normally tell people because.......they don't believe me.
....We spent an hour talking about boxing. He told me that he used to box about 20 years ago. It was one of those conversations I know you would have loved being around for. He asked me all kinds of questions. Where I had been, what I had done, and what my future plans were.
....As I was telling him my story from the beginning to the end about where I started, and where I am now, I could hardly believe it all myself. With the RIGHT Coaches, the RIGHT PROGRAM, and the RIGHT DIET...and because of you.....we have come so far......
....I told him about our dream. The Olympics. A dream so grand....I can hardly conceptualize it myself. How Coach Igor, Coach Molly, and Coach Rob are getting me where I need to be. How.....because of the love these Coaches pour into me, I hope that I can do what they have taught me, I hope that I can do what they know I can do, I hope that.....I can make them both proud....and famous.....(smiles). I hope....that I can do it.....for you.....LEGS.
...I told him about the team. How they call me "THE SOUL OF THE TEAM" how high of an honor that is to me, how much discipline and motivation we have as a team, how hard we work, and how these kids.....they save my spirit every, single, day.
I told him about you. How you research all my opponents, that your knowledge of female boxing is obsessive. How you buy me the best gear, and you support me more than most people can fathom. I told him how you say female boxing is so much more exciting to watch than the boys. I told him that what you and I have is........real.
.....He asked me what AFN and the ARMY are doing to support me. And his face to my response was.....enough to make me realize the gravity. I told him that I receive absolutely no tangible support on the American side. I feel alone at times and abandoned by my own people.
I told him how the Germans call me The Tiger. How they have written so many articles and covered my success. I told him how all the people in Oberdachstetten follow me, how all of Bavaria loves me and the old ladies pray in the church when I have matches. I told him how much the Germans have invested in me as an athlete.
....I told him how sad it makes me that.....our story, the story of my trainers, the team, and you and I is the stuff out of Hollywood...but for reasons I don't understand is not being shared or attended too....
I told him our story is about fighting for everything in our lives.....freedom, happiness, meaning and life itself.....I told him....that every single person in our life plays an important role in our dream....that it takes a village to raise a fighter....and that's what we are.....we are fighters....
I told him....that I do all of it for you.....for me....and for the wives and families left behind....because our sacrifice deserves recognition....it deserves meaning.....I told him that from now on.....all my fights will be in dedication to just that.....THE SACRIFICE OF THE PEOPLE WHO FIGHT.....
....I told him.....that while you are fighting....I am fighting too.....and that symbolism, that parallel, is like a destiny written in the stars.....he said....he could see......he said he could see it all....what I am about to do......in my eyes........**
....Just another day in the life of an unlikely military wife....**
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