Off Balance: A Memoir Read Online Free PDF Page B

Chicago. And then I saw it. There it was, on the right-hand side of the gym … the trampoline. But it wasn’t just one; they had three trampolines connected one to the other, built up on a podium surrounded by carpet. The trampoline was my favorite, and I never grew tired of it. I sat in my white leotard with little sparkles, counting the minutes for class to start!
    And so it began: Our routine of driving to LaFleur’s several times each week for my gymnastics classes. The gym’s owners, Jeff and Julie LaFleur, along with Beth Hair, made up my new coaching team. It was the beginning of a wonderful and nurturing relationship with a triad of coaches: Jeff as my primary coach, Julieas my dance coach and floor choreographer, and Beth as my balance beam coach. Most of the skills I learned from them I carried with me for the rest of my career. With their guidance, I excelled quickly and developed a true love affair with the sport of gymnastics. I am forever grateful that we landed at the doors of LaFleur’s Gymnastics when we moved to Florida.
    These unjaded early years of gymnastics were magical for me and hold some of my purest and most inspiring memories of the sport. Putting on my leotard, packing my bag, and climbing into the car with Mama was invigorating and symbolized my path to something wonderful and safe. Every time I walked through the doors of that gym, I felt alive and excited. I knew this was the sport for me, even at the young age of five. There wasn’t anything in my life that I felt so strongly about or, aside from Mama, that I loved so much.
    By the time I was seven, I started to realize that I didn’t just love gymnastics, but also that I had a special gift for it. I started to notice that I learned quickly and picked up new maneuvers faster than the other girls in my classes. It was as if I were born to do gymnastics. A big plus in my favor was that I had no fear. Even at six, I was a daredevil, relishing challenges and more than willing to try any new somersault, back bend, or flip. Fear only set in much later, when my surroundings and pressures changed in the sport and in my life, but as a child I was virtually carefree when I learned and performed. I would overhear my coaches telling my parents in serious tones that I had true natural ability for the sport and that they were very excited to be working with me. I could feel the energy from their excitement. I noticed that the coaches spent extra one-on-one time working with me and that they appreciated my fearless approach.
    My parents believed early on that gymnastics would be my future and were determined to do whatever it took for me to succeed. The high priority they placed on my gymnastics explainstheir willingness to spend money on my classes and training even though most months we lived hand-to-mouth. In their eyes I was destined to be a meaningful contributor to the sport that meant so much to their home country. My parents often used to tell a story about the moment they knew I’d become a champion gymnast. I’ve heard them tell it so many times, I can recite it in my sleep: “We put Dominique on a clothesline at six months old to see how long she could hang on and test her strength. She didn’t let go until the clothesline broke!” It still makes me laugh when I picture Tata telling it with the same level of enthusiasm each time. He’d actually act out the story, fists over his head pretending to imitate me holding on to that clothesline. He was so proud that he was almost giddy when he shared this story over and over throughout the years.
    As I grew more skilled and more serious about gymnastics, my training and the number of hours I spent at LaFleur’s gym increased dramatically. By the age of seven, I was training with Jeff, Julie, and Beth five to six days per week, logging twenty-five hours, often more, each week. When I first started working with them, I was a compulsory level gymnast, so I spent my days practicing and perfecting