I was watching the Olympics the other night (okay, every night) when the American men were trying to qualify for the team gymnastic final. Up in the crowd, with perfectly manicured fingernails placed directly over her eyes, was the mother of one of the participants. One of the cameras stayed on her as her son performed and when they replayed the footage, it turned out that the mom had never uncovered her eyes until she heard the crowd applauding. Hearing the all-clear signal, she knew it was safe to look and immediately started clapping wildly. She knew by the crowd's reaction that nothing terrible had happened, nothing terrible was going to happen. It was safe. For now.
Any mom can relate; we all know exactly what John Orozco's mom was going through. There are so many times we have to watch when our kids are in the middle of something that we know has a pretty good chance of ending badly. You want to help but you can't. You want to intervene but you shouldn't. You want to advise but . . . what the hell, you know they're not going to listen anyway.
So, we sit there like that mom in the stands with our hands half over our eyes, trying hard not to look until the danger has passed. But Mrs. Orozco had something we non-Olympic moms don't have.
She knew when it was safe to look.
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