The excitement leading up to and including August 1st was unreal. All the day before, (which was moving day) family was arriving, moving into their houses and generally getting revved for the upcoming event the next day. For me it was especially hectic because I was on the phone most of the evening (until late) coordinating the media spectacle that was about to occur the next day. (Somehow I became media relations personnel for the Ross family - story below...)
It all started back in Regina, about 3 days before we left for Calgary to fly to London. Someone from Global Regina, who heard about Reuben's flock of supporters, had called Elliot, Reuben's brother, to see about getting some interviews from the family as we get ready to leave for London to go cheer Reuben on. But Elliot, whose family had left early and was already in Switzerland, messaged his brother Tim to handle it. Tim then passed the buck over to Azelia, who passed the buck over to me. So I called the lady from Global back and arranged for an interview the next day, making me their primary contact point for the family. And that's why they interviewed me when they arrived, as opposed to Reuben's brother or sister. It was actually a lot of fun as they came into our house with their cameras and interviewed us!
Then later as we were outside in the front yard, we just happened to see our neighbour going out for a walk, who just happens to be the weatherman for the local Regina CTV morning show, Carey Smith. I mentioned to him how Global would be coming over and he thought it would be fun to have us all in the studio for a live morning interview as well! So we did that, and it was fun, and then after that someone else on the show (Molly Thomas) mentioned to Azelia that she would also be in London during the Olympics and it would be cool to get an interview there as well. Azelia told her to email me (as Carey already had my email addy) and it went from there. She pitched the story to CTV National, we kept in contact in London, and the next thing I knew I was talking to Todd Battis the night before Reuben's diving event organizing what time the camera crew would come over in the morning to shadow/interview us for a national story!
The next day was surreal. The hustle and bustle of the house in the morning while everyone's preparing to head out for the day.. All the red "Reuben Ross Rips" t-shirts.. Random cheering.. .and of course, the CTV cameras and reporter! It was truly a once in a lifetime kinda feeling/day and it really didn't matter how Reuben did at the event. He was here, he made it, we made it (all 39 of us!) and you could feel the excitement in the air!
The Olympic Park was incredible, as I'm sure you've seen some of the monumental buildings on the tele. The only disappointment was that we couldn't view the Olympic flame because it was situated in the stadium so we would have had to either have a ticket to an athletics event or pay an admission just to see it. London really dropped the ball on this one - they should have put it out in the open for everyone to see.
It was an emotional day (to say the least), and for me it went like this: nervousness, anxiety, and excitement before the event; tension, thrill, pride, and disappointment (all at the same time) during the event; and finally absolute joy and amazement after the event when Reuben came out to greet his family! Reuben's mom put it best when she said "whatever happens will happen and whatever happens we will all be proud of him."
Afterwards we claimed a nice big spot on the grass and celebrated Reuben's achievements with beer, Canada flags, and rowdy kids. We will never forget this day. (And thanks to CTV we never have to lol!)
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