OLYMPIAN EFFORT
A special father-daughter relationship develops with involvement in the Special Olympics
BY:ROBERT EDELSTEIN
At the New Jersey State Special Olympics, athletes are awarded their medals by police officers. The law-enforcement community has long been vital to the games, bringing thousands of dollars—and volunteer man-hours—annually to the cause.
Retired forest ranger Bruce Mathews, however, has a special reason for being a dogged supporter of the Special Olympics. He always felt the tug of duty when he put on his uniform as an SO volunteer. But for the last 18 years, every time his daughter Suzie, born with Down Syndrome, earned a medal, it’s been Bruce who’s placed it around her neck. For father and daughter, it’s a ritual filled with pride and inspiration. It’s their celebration of achievement and their commitment to growth and to each other.
“I can’t explain what a thrill it is to give your own daughter a medal,” says Bruce. “That first time she stood on the first-place platform, in my eyes she was the biggest person around. To put the medal around her neck, to congratulate her as an officer to an athlete and then from father to daughter…well, it got to both of us.”
What’s also gotten to father and daughter is the power of example. Bruce has watched Suzie grow from an eight-year-old, first-time athlete to a 26-year-old woman with a thirst for new challenges. She’s achieved success in track, swimming, bowling and bocce. Suzie’s training, which began as part of the motor-skill development segment of her daily physical education, has shown her the payoff that comes from great effort. “For her to work hard and achieve her goals, it makes you want to do the same thing,” says Bruce.
And he’s done just that. Although Bruce promised himself to never run again after enduring the forced runs during his police academy training, his involvement with Special Olympics—and the proud mental image of the first time Suzie competed, when “she ran like there was a thunderstorm behind her”—motivated him to be part of the Law Enforcement Torch Run leading up to the 2003 Special Olympic Games in Dublin, which wound its way throughout Europe.
“I began training and ended up running 5K five days a week,” he says. “I ran every step over there. Just to be selected is an honor. I had to train, and when I thought about how hard the athletes train, it renewed my spirit. I had a big carrot in front of me,” explaining that he carried pictures of Suzie all over the world.
Bruce clearly saw how his efforts inspired Suzie right before his run. “She gave me a little handmade award to show how proud she was of me,” he says. “She’d written on it, ‘Dad, I love you. Dad, you’re the best. Good luck in Europe. Love you, Suzie.’”
Though he’s retired, Bruce’s place in the cycle of inspiration continues. Once a year, he says, “I put a uniform on with a retired badge and give medals to the athletes, especially my daughter. Suzie and I are both moved by it. I thought after a while she’d want somebody else to give it—like some young, good-looking cop. But she still likes it when Dad gives the medals to her.”