Melanie Roach won the No. 1 spot on the U.S. women's four-member
Olympic weight-lifting team. She credits what she learned
from her two-year-old son, Drew, with helping her acheive the goal.
NPR reports that for Melanie Roach, "a 33-year-old mother of three, securing a slot on the U.S. Olympic team was the culmination of a quest that began more than a decade ago — and has been punctuated by huge disappointments, months of intractable pain caused by a herniated disk, back surgery and lessons learned from her autistic son."
Roach says son Drew, who has autism, showed her how to live in the moment, giving her the mental toughness to make the Olympic team.
A devout Mormon, Roach said she went to her bishop crying that she might not have the strength to help Drew. Her bishop told her to stop focusing on what Drew couldn't do and focus on what he could do.
That was a turning point, she says, when she started to embrace who Drew was — living in the moment with him and not dwelling on the past or the future.
"I really feel like that concept of enjoying the now and not worrying about the future is what my coach has been trying to teach me for 14 years — and that is what has made me such a different athlete 10 years later, and that is what has made me strong enough mentally to make this Olympic team," Roach explained.
