Holy figure skating crap!

[pangaia]

38. I too wish her only the best.

And yes, she has had her problems.
One 'pays' for the gift she has. An extraordinarily difficult life, in its own way.

I saw her once, in Syracuse, NY I believe. I was on a concert tour. I was about 51-52. Soon after her gold-that year? the next? I forget. I was eating with friends in a Thai restaurant. I knew that she and others were on tour with..some skating show. I learned from the paper, perhaps.

As I remember, she and maybe 2-3 others came in for dinner. I don't know that anyone recognized her, but I sure did. As we were leaving, we walked by her table. I didn't have any intention to even acknowledge her, didn't want to bother her.
Just as I approached, she looked up. So I looked at her and gave a small smile and nodded my head, as if to say, 'thank you for what you do.' She smiled briefly, and also nodded. tilting her head to the side, a genuine, very gracious gesture, as if to say. 'thank you,' and probably also 'and thank you for leaving me incognito.' Just a fleeting few seconds.