Bringing Home Gold.
She's 4' 8" and all of 19 years old.
And she's put down one team gold medal in the 2016 Olympics History books. And is expected to take home three more.
Her name is Simone Biles.
She started her career at age six on a day-care field trip and it bloomed into years of training, passion, and rising star-dom in the world of gymnastics. She Took home her first two golds in the World Championships in 2013, which turned into four more in 2014, and another four in 2015. This very day, she competes in the Women' Individual All-Around gymnast event at the 2016 Olympics for Team USA.
But it could have been different. Simone Biles could have easily never existed. Her star-dom, success, and talent could all be the story of someone else.
Simone was born to a mother who could not take care of her and her three older siblings due to a drug and alcohol addiction.
By the standards of our culture, Simone should have never been brought into a world with a mother who by all standards was unfit, unprepared, and overwhelmed by yet another child. Abortion would have been highly encouraged.
But Simone is here, winning hearts across the earth, and bringing gold home for Team USA.
She was given the opportunity of life, and was adopted by her biological Grandfather and Step-Grandmother. Today, she calls them Mom and Dad, because that's all she knows. Her love for them is as raw and vast as her love for the sport that encapsulates her life.
Her life is inspiring, giving way to the possibilities that your deepest desires can be achieved with devotion and hard work. And it is inspiring because her success as a young adult could very easily never have been.
Choose life. Choose opportunity. Choose courage.
