Post by rainman on Aug 12, 2009 20:02:33 GMT -5
‘She’s one of ours’
Mary Lou Retton always had goal of returning home
BY CLIFF NICHOLS TIMES WEST VIRGINIAN
FAIRMONT — When Mary Lou Retton left her family’s Fairmont home for Houston at the age of 14 early in 1983, the 1984 Olympic all-around gold medalist in women’s gymnastics believed she’d return to live here one day.
It’s happened — about a quarter century later than she initially imagined.
She and her family — husband Shannon Kelley and daughters Shayla Rae, McKenna Lane, Emma Jean and Skyla Brae — are getting settled in the Fairmont home Mary Lou received as a 2007 Christmas present from her husband.
Kelley, a former University of Texas quarterback, has been hired as director of the Fairmont State Athletic Association (FSAA), the fundraising unit of the athletic department. Kelley will work with FSU’s administration and staff to further the presence and image of FSU athletics.
Mary Lou, meanwhile, is also busy with everything that comes with moving, including getting the girls registered for school and gymnastics.
“I came (to Houston) when I was 14 and have lived my formative years here, and I'll miss it. But I'm ready for a small town,” Retton told the Houston Chronicle last week. Last year during a visit to Fairmont for a “welcome home” July 4 celebration, Retton said she originally believed she would return to Fairmont after the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
“I’d come back. I’d finish my 10th-grade year here at West Side, Fairmont Senior High School. Maybe go out for cheerleader. Hopefully make the honor roll. Truly, that was our thinking. Honestly, I believe the Lord had a different plan for me and a different outline for me.”
Indeed, her Olympic success brought her worldwide fame and adoration. Retton built a career as a motivational speaker, corporate spokesperson, commentator and fitness ambassador, and she has noted that she has been “very blessed, very, very fortunate.”
She and her family continued to live in Houston, where she trained for the Olympics under Bela Karolyi, but the desire to one day return home never left.
When she got her Fairmont home less than two years ago, it was called “Mary Lou’s retreat.”
She said it’s a place where she “can remove myself from all the craziness of fame and the craziness of my life.”
What she appreciated above all after getting a home here is the people — not just her family and friends, but the public at large.
“It’s different here,” she said. “I’ll get a wave and, ‘Hey, good to see you back,’ or, ‘How are you doing, Mary Lou?’ There’s an ownership, which is so sweet, but not an overwhelming desire to come and impose upon my time.
“If they see me any time I’m here in town, I’m with the kids. We’re running to Wal-Mart or running to the store and doing this or that. I love that. It’s an ownership of, ‘Hey. It’s good to see you. She’s back. She’s one of ours.’ “It makes you feel so good.”
Mary Lou Retton always had goal of returning home
BY CLIFF NICHOLS TIMES WEST VIRGINIAN
FAIRMONT — When Mary Lou Retton left her family’s Fairmont home for Houston at the age of 14 early in 1983, the 1984 Olympic all-around gold medalist in women’s gymnastics believed she’d return to live here one day.
It’s happened — about a quarter century later than she initially imagined.
She and her family — husband Shannon Kelley and daughters Shayla Rae, McKenna Lane, Emma Jean and Skyla Brae — are getting settled in the Fairmont home Mary Lou received as a 2007 Christmas present from her husband.
Kelley, a former University of Texas quarterback, has been hired as director of the Fairmont State Athletic Association (FSAA), the fundraising unit of the athletic department. Kelley will work with FSU’s administration and staff to further the presence and image of FSU athletics.
Mary Lou, meanwhile, is also busy with everything that comes with moving, including getting the girls registered for school and gymnastics.
“I came (to Houston) when I was 14 and have lived my formative years here, and I'll miss it. But I'm ready for a small town,” Retton told the Houston Chronicle last week. Last year during a visit to Fairmont for a “welcome home” July 4 celebration, Retton said she originally believed she would return to Fairmont after the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
“I’d come back. I’d finish my 10th-grade year here at West Side, Fairmont Senior High School. Maybe go out for cheerleader. Hopefully make the honor roll. Truly, that was our thinking. Honestly, I believe the Lord had a different plan for me and a different outline for me.”
Indeed, her Olympic success brought her worldwide fame and adoration. Retton built a career as a motivational speaker, corporate spokesperson, commentator and fitness ambassador, and she has noted that she has been “very blessed, very, very fortunate.”
She and her family continued to live in Houston, where she trained for the Olympics under Bela Karolyi, but the desire to one day return home never left.
When she got her Fairmont home less than two years ago, it was called “Mary Lou’s retreat.”
She said it’s a place where she “can remove myself from all the craziness of fame and the craziness of my life.”
What she appreciated above all after getting a home here is the people — not just her family and friends, but the public at large.
“It’s different here,” she said. “I’ll get a wave and, ‘Hey, good to see you back,’ or, ‘How are you doing, Mary Lou?’ There’s an ownership, which is so sweet, but not an overwhelming desire to come and impose upon my time.
“If they see me any time I’m here in town, I’m with the kids. We’re running to Wal-Mart or running to the store and doing this or that. I love that. It’s an ownership of, ‘Hey. It’s good to see you. She’s back. She’s one of ours.’ “It makes you feel so good.”
