On This Day

April 4, 2025

On this day, first, second, and third-place ribbons were pinned on athletes, and arms were raised on podiums. Wheelchairs were pushed, and parents cheered. A principal asked, "Were you nervous?" An announcer said, "You were born ready." A runner ran so hard that his shoes popped off. Special Olympics t-shirts read: "Let's root for each other", "I'm One in a Minion" and "Dad of Two Autistic Warriors."

Visitors stopped to see the USS United States ship at the port of Mobile. One had a shark's mouth tattoo around her elbow. Another had a "Real Life Mermaid" sticker on the truck she bought when she sold her house; she once welded ships and made salvage dives for the Army.  She called herself "a five jump chump that only made four" and now has titanium in her feet and ankles from where she broke them. A man stepped out of his car and said, "I can't believe I'm seeing this." He was 87 and wore an 82nd Airborne cap. The lookers kept coming: women on a girls' trip, young marine biologists at a conference, and a retired pilot who had gone on a family cruise on a similar ship.

On this day, a cigarette hung from one hand as a man played air guitar with the other. Two laptop computers sat in front of a law school student-a third was in her bag. A honey bee collected pollen in thistle, and purple wildflowers were picked on the side of the road by a husband for his wife.

All on this day.