When we won the Olympic bid in 2005, I remember calculating how old I’d be in 2012 when the games came to London. Bloody hell, I’ll be 27. A proper adult. It prompted me to guess at what my life would be like then.
I remember a discussion shortly after we won the bid. Tickets will be ridiculously expensive. Ah, but we’ll be in our mid to late twenties. We’ll be young, working, few responsibilities. We’ll be the demographic who can afford to go these games.
The day after the bid, I remember arranging to meet with Sam in town. It was during the long summer break from Uni. It was to be the first time we would meet alone, purposefully without our Uni friends. Perhaps we would have had a July anniversary instead of an October one. In the end, we couldn’t meet. I remember this exact day and the turn of events not because of my feelings toward Sam at the time, but because it was 7/7.
As I watched the games from home, with Arlo contorting his chubby toddler body into his own versions of the gymnastics on the screen and running around the living room floor in circles shouting “Raaaace”, the memory of calculating how old I’d be and wondering what life would be like came to me suddenly, an unexpected surprise. I am with that boy I was trying to meet up with. We are young and working hard. But we are not quite living the hedonistic lifestyle I’d imagined. I didn’t even factor in kids, hah.
27 seemed so distant, and yet 20 doesn’t seem that far in the past at all.
————————————————-
We’ve really enjoyed watching the games. I wish we could have been able to see some live events, or even just wander around the Olympic Park. I regret that I haven’t even been into town to get a taste for all the excitement surrounding it all. But we did see the torch at least! It’s been so nice to see the media give coverage to so many hard-working and humble athletes, I love the emphasis on inspiring the next generation, I’m proud that London has managed to pull off its hosting duties, and as a small little place, Team GB have done alright haven’t they? Officially a fan of the Olympics.
